Lafite 1905 - 2005

Dinner with Caprice at Château Lafite-Rothschild in Pauillac, hosted jointly by Antoine Granger from the château and the Caprice team.

1979 Krug, en magnum - lovely toasty and nutty nose, with a little bit of straw. This was very much alive with thrilling acidity. What an amazingly wine! The third magnum was even better, with a huge, toasty nose that was also reductive at the same time. Sooooo amazing, and I love it!

2005 William Fevre Chablis Le Clos, en magnum - flinty nose with notes of stone fruit. Pretty round and ripe on the palate.

First pair: opened and double-decanted, then stoppered for 5½ hours and aired for 30 minutes prior to serving.

2005 Lafite-Rothschild, en magnum - smoky nose that was a little ripe, not so open right now. More tannic on the palate, even at the ripe old age of 21 years.

2000 Lafite-Rothschild, en magnum - WOW! This was soooo fresh! Nose of smoke, graphite, cigar box, and mint. Sooo smooth, soooo elegant. Pretty savory on the palate, and I hate to describe it as brett but there seemed to be a touch of it, along with leather. Another 30 minutes in the savory, bretty notes were pretty obvious.

Second pair: opened and double-decanted, then stoppered for 6 hours and aired for 30 minutes prior to serving.

1990 Lafite-Rothschild, en magnum - softer on the nose but more minty, a little woodsy, smoky and slight dusty, savory, leather, and was there also a touch of brett? Obviously this was more mature on the palate. About 30 minutes in this finally opened up further, and the nose was pretty fragrant. The nose kinda died about 1 hour and 20 minutes in, but the palate was still going.

1986 Lafite-Rothschild, en magnum - the nose was soooo fragrant and woodsy. Also savory, but much less brett. A real lovely wine.

1955 Lafite-Rothschild, en magnum - beautiful, fragrant nose, with lovely notes of cedar, smoke, graphite, and pencil lead. The nose still got the fruity acidity. The palate was savory and very much oxidized now.

1905 Lafite-Rothschild - the color was pretty light and not quite pink. The nose was so, so, soooo fragrant, with the red fruits and a little peppery, along with some coffee and toast. So elegant. What an amazing treat!

1976 Rieussec - lots of honey, botrytis, marmalade, and honeydew melon. Beautiful. So sweet and unctuous.

Cognac Très Vieilles Réserve Lafite-Rothschild - really sweet with lots of caramel on the nose.

Full post on dinner is here.