Chateau Lafite Rothschild 1990

Interestingly, a bottle of 1990 Lafite Rothschild I pulled from my cellar for a video blog on my web site was still buttoned down, tight, and even with extended decanting was not showing as much as I would have hoped. However, a bottle tasted, of all places, in Seoul, Korea in February, was only a few points short of perfection. That amazing performance motivated me to pull another bottle out of my cellar and follow it over the course of two days. Sure enough, by the second day the wine was roaring from the glass. The 1990 Lafite has turned out far better than my early assessment. While it still possesses some firmness, and performs like a late adolescent in terms of its evolution, it boasts gorgeous aromas of cedar, tobacco leaf, cassis, and lead pencil shavings. The explosive aromas are followed by a fleshy, full-bodied wine that should hit its peak in 5-8 years, and last for 25-30 more.

The 1990 is ripe, rich, and well textured, but mouth-searing tannin, and a closed personality make it hard to fully assess. The wine possesses excellent richness, a hint ofperfume of minerals, cedar, lead pencil, and red fruits, medium to full body, moderate weight, and a tough finish.give it a decade of cellaring to shed some tannin and evolve. It may be a 40 to 50 years Lafite. It will never mach the sheer class, quality, and complexity of the 1988, 1986, and 1982. Anticipated maturity: 2006-2035

Light ruby. Rather a fight going on on the nose between Lafite's trademark elegance and the rich trollopey nature of the vintage. Quite unctuous on the palate - especially for a Lafite. This splits the difference nicely between super-ripeness - very flirtatious. Racy and completely covers the palate. More obvious acidity than the Latour 1990. Not quite as complete.Cabernet Sauvignon 57% Merlot 30% Cabernet Franc 13%. Drink 2004-2018. Date tasted 16th Oct 07.