Château Lafite Rothschild 2022

Wineadvocate

A blend of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot, the 2022 Lafite Rothschild unwinds in the glass with aromas of dark berries, cassis, sweet soils tones, cigar box and lilac. Medium to full-bodied, it's the most tensile of the first growths this year, with a layered, concentrated but youthfully introverted mid-palate, lively acids and a long, saline finish. It checks in at a rather high pH of 3.85, which belies its incisive profile, from a harvest that extended from August 31 to September 24. - WK 04/2023

Vinous

The 2022 Lafite-Rothschild was picked from 31 August to 24 September and apart from the 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, there is 17.5% pressed wine in the blend. The IPT is slightly lower than 2020. There is 13.6% alcohol this year, higher than 2018 and 2019. It has an intense bouquet with blackberry, crushed stone, touches of pencil box and undergrowth, very Lafite-Rothschild in style. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins, perfectly judged acidity, linear and focused. Compared to vintages a couple of decades ago, there is mid-palate weight, yet it retains classicism and transparency, while delivering quite a gentle but insistent grip on the finish. Perpetually the most deceptive of First Growth, one should not doubt its long-term potential. - NM 04/2023

Beck

Tout en finesse, mais de manière ciblée, précise, évidente. L'ambition est claire, d'entrée, ce sont la finesse et la subtilité qui cherche à primer... et la fraîcheur ! Le bouquet révèle des nuances de poivre rose, de baies rouges et noires complétées par une pointe de réglisse et de menthe. Lafite est élancé, élégant, serein et conscient de sa puissance qu'il ne révèle que pas à pas, le long du palais. Et on ne la voit pas venir cette puissance, elle apparaît en fin de bouche, de manière canalisée mais impressionnante. C'est là que les tannins, aux grains fins, se dessinent et qu'ils offrent une vigueur inestimable couplée au tempérament de la structure acide. Le vin est profond, puissant, précis, élancé et persistant. Un vin très grand qui rappelle que pour briller il n'y a pas besoin d'être éclatant, il suffit d'être pertinent, précis et de pouvoir chuchoter de manière à ce que tout le monde entende quand-même. - 04/2023

Suckling

A classical Lafite that reminds me of something like the 1986, with its blackcurrant and tobacco character with cedar and hazelnut, but it's so today with its purity and precision. It's really about being Lafite here. Terroir gives great elegance with strength. - 04/2023

Dunnuck

The 2022 Château Lafite-Rothschild is based on 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot, and 1% Petit Verdot that was harvested between the 31st of August and the 24th of September. It's a richer, more opulent wine compared to the more classic 2020 (although the pH is higher in the 2020) and has a deep, full-bodied, concentrated profile as well as classic Lafite aromatics of spicy red and black fruits, freshly sharpened pencils, graphite, and tobacco. Deep, rich, and concentrated, it nevertheless stays pure and flawlessly balanced, with ample, ripe tannins and a great finish. It's going to have some up-front appeal by Lafite standards but should still require a decade of bottle age. Director Eric Koher compares this to the 2005, but this modern-day clone of the 1959 is one of the most powerful, concentrated Lafites I've tasted. - 05/2023