Robert Parker 98-100 Points!
'This is utterly fascinating stuff.' - Robert Parker!
Jancis Robinson 19.5/20 Points!
Vinous Media 96 Points!
Variety:    93.3% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6.7% Merlot
Appellation: Pauillac  (Left Bank)
Region:  Bordeaux, France
 
 
Robert Parker 100 points!
“Well, well, well - Lafite Rothschild does it again. Ever since manager Charles Chevalier was transferred from his beloved Sauternes property of Rieussec (also owned by the Rothschilds) to Lafite in 1994, there has been a succession of profound wines to emerge from this noble estate. The 2000 Lafite Rothschild, a blend of 93.3% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6.7% Merlot (only 36% of the crop made the grade) has an opaque ruby/purple color, followed by an extraordinary aromatic expression of liquid minerals/stones interwoven with the tell-tale graphite notes, mulberry, black currants, caramel, and tobacco. In the mouth, it is remarkably light on its feet, but somehow seems to pack intense flavors into layer upon layer of fruit and richness that cascade over the palate. A compelling wine, with extraordinary precision, great intensity, and a seamlessness in spite of what are obviously elevated levels of tannin, this wine was provocatively open and beautiful when tasted in January and February, but I am sure it will soon close down. The finish lasted a whopping 72 seconds! This is utterly fascinating stuff. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2050.”
Robert Parker, April 2003
Robert Parker 98+ Points!
'Since I gave this wine a perfect score, I found everything still there for a perfect rating, but I was just struck by how tight the wine was. A blend of 93.3% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot, the wine still has a dark ruby/purple color and an extraordinarily youthful nose of graphite, black currants, sweet, unsmoked cigar tobacco, and flowers. The wine is rich, medium to full-bodied, but has that ethereal elegance and purity that is always Lafite. I originally predicted that it would first reach maturity in 2011, but I would push that back by 5-7 years now, although it has 50-60 years of life in front of it. Owners of this beauty are probably best advised to forget it for 5 years. Tasted next to a 1996 several days after the 2000 tasting, the 1996, which is a perfect wine, was far closer to full maturity than the 2000.'
Robert Parker, June 2010
Vinous Media 96 points!
“Full medium ruby. Flamboyantly perfumed aromas of cassis, graphite and tobacco, lifted by a floral nuance and stony minerality. Very young and precise but not austere or forbidding. A remarkably rich, silky, seamless Lafite with superb vibrancy for the vintage. Tannins are noble and the aristocratic finishing flavors go on and on.”
Stephen Tanzer, VinousMedia.com, May 2003
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