Chateau Lafite-Rothschild 2000

This is remarkably young, with a deep well of succulent black currant, fig and blackberry fruit notes that feel 10 years younger than most peers, carried by wave upon wave of velvety tannins. Despite the density and heft, there's glorious length and finesse too, with alluring black tea, smoldering charcoal and warm paving stone notes just starting to emerge. Awesome wine. -- Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Best from 2018 through 2043. 18,000 cases made.

The bouquet is amazingly open and forward at this stage, with a ripe black fruit character on the nose just beginning to open up and reveal savoury notes of leather, earth, and roast coffee. The texture is lush and dense, and there is plenty of body and structure to make this a wine for the long term. I visited the Château in July of 2000, and it was pouring with rain; that week, there was plenty of spraying for rot. Fortunately, it was hot and dry for the rest of the summer, and the fruit ended up healthy and ripe, although only 36% of the harvest made it into the grand vin, which was 93% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Merlot.

The nose is fresh, bright, and dense. With aromas of violets, minerals, spices, cool stones, mint, dark fruits, and plum skins, this is beautiful. Very much still a baby right now, it needs much more time. This is a wine for the next generation. Finesse and elegance, truly a wine that makes you contemplate life. This is not about power, there is really nothing like it. 93% Cabernet Sauvignon. Do not even think about touching this for another ten years, 2020. 15+25+25+35. Find the wine

The 2000 Lafite-Rothschild is utterly sublime. Delicate, sensual and wonderfully nuanced, the 2000 is majestic. The purity of the fruit is simply striking.

The past 5–6 years have added a lot here. 2000 is bottled elegance. Everything is in place here. The wine has a beautiful sense of refinement, balance, silky tannins, and layers of sweet, soft red fruits that don’t want to quit. This is one of the few vintages of Lafite that is better on the palate than it is on the nose. This is an incredible tasting experience that is only getting started. Unless you have a case and you cannot wait to dig in, give it a few more years in the cellar. With time, perhaps a decade or so, this will probably hit triple digits. Drink from 2025–2075.

Dark ruby garnet, purple reflections, brightening toward the rim. Black fruit, some plum, fine oak savoriness, delicate chocolate, smoky minerality. On the palate completely embryonic, restrained, fine savoriness, still relatively austere and monolithic, vivid tannins, the fruit is laid back, nuances of fully ripe Cabernet Sauvignon, notes of cassis and blackberries, extracted sweetness, good persistence, certain aging potential, has not quite reached its first drinking MATURITY. Patience will be rewarded.

Not an especially dark color for this vintage. Superb, delicate bouquet with a touch of caramel, buttery notes, plenty of cedar and Dominican tobacco, complex and perfumed. Even though the wine is only partly revealing itself for now, it fascinates—indeed intoxicates—with its expansive nose. Ultra-refined palate with silky tannins, long and dancing. Could be the successor to the sensational 1982. To reach its first peak of maturity, this already seductive 2000 beauty still needs at least ten more years.

01: Barrel sample (19/20): 64% of the harvest downgraded! Isn’t it the case that in a truly great vintage you downgrade very little? Only 36% of the total harvest at Lafite is used for the Grand Vin. In financial terms, expressed in numbers, that means millions for the estate. The final blend is 93.3% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6.7% Merlot. Never before has so much press wine been used (a total of 10%): delicate, almost perfumed Cabernet bouquet, blueberries, licorice, fine woods. On the palate, initially seeming slender, then the wine shows a lot of substance and a lovely sweetness. Here too (as with Carruades) a clearly defined, direct Cabernet profile, lilac tones and a bound caramel note in the long, lofty finish. A Lafite with velvet paws, its claws likely hidden within. 03: Tasted twice. Once at the Chile comparative tasting in Munich. The other at the Lafite tasting in Bad Aussee: fresh, still raw fruit bouquet, masses of herbal notes, licorice, a subtle oaky sweetness in the background, cedar spice, tobacco, walnut shells, dark fine woods, a nobility and grandeur that show already on the nose, even though the wine has no desire to communicate. On the palate, perfect astringency, an intense tannin-acid framework, extremely black-berried with dramatic concentration, a persistent finish whose aromatics conclude the preceding play of aromas. Could evolve into a wine of the century (19/20). One of the very best wines at the big Three-Terroirs blind tasting at the Ritz-Carlton in Berlin—and here it first showed that it is truly morphing into a wine of the century: dark, deep purple with a violet sheen. Full cassis and roasted notes on the bouquet, warmth, some plum tones and beautiful depth, already a powerhouse on the nose with dramatic potential. On the palate velvety, still plenty of astringency but with fine, ultra-ripe tannins, cassis and blackberries to spare and a hyper-concentrated extract, extremely persistent. Almost in a class of its own. 04: A child murder. It was served as the last red wine during a dinner on Uto Kulm. You can see its greatness, but the components are still looking to come together, gorgeous sweetness in the body, extremely long echo. Do not touch and truly wait for its drinking maturity. (20/20). 07: Coburg tasting. Extremely dark, dense and impenetrable. Sweet bouquet, rock candy notes, dark caramel, gently lactic, subtle buttery notes, attractive, fitting roasted tones, cassis, a hint of dried fruit. On the palate velvety, polished, sweet tannins, silky astringency, lots of warmth in the extract. The wine was decanted for 6 hours and that was the right call. It thus offered a glimpse of what it could be in a few years. The wine is significantly finer and more fitting for Lafite than the 1982 and 1986. Close to 20/20! 11: Not particularly dramatic color depth for this vintage. Superb, delicate bouquet, a touch of caramel, buttery notes, plenty of cedar and Dominican tobacco, multi-layered and perfumed. Even though the wine is currently revealing only a small part of itself, it fascinates—indeed intoxicates with its expansive nose. Highly refined palate with silky tannins, long and dancing. Thanks to the sensational 1982 Lafite tasted half an hour earlier, I have the feeling the successor has been found here. Overall, approachable now, but that is likely deceptive; to reach its first major maturity, this 2000 beauty still needs at least 10 years. 19/20. 12: Bright garnet, dark core. Little communication on the nose, delicate sweetness, light caramel, cassis, cedar nuances, light tobacco. Only on the palate does the true greatness emerge; the tannins are present yet fine; when slurped, the incomparable Lafite perfume appears. A delicate, finesse-rich Lafite that may one day—in a more concentrated guise—recall the 1953. (19/20). 15: Still showing violet reflections in the saturated purple. The bouquet appears fresh, clear, with a slightly waxy cassis note; all aromas are still in the primary phase and clearly defined, very delicate and multi-layered. On the palate, perfect astringency, generous extract, blackberries, cassis and fine woods. In direct comparison, this was the absolute greatest wine of the evening. I had previously scored it 20/20 and that was again indisputable. 17: Saturated purple, showing virtually no signs of evolution. On the bouquet, white pepper, leather notes, dramatically deep, indicating a dry, concentrated depth. You sense the greatness, but you also quickly notice that this wine has little desire to open up. On a second pass it shows tar and smoky contours, almost recalling a massive Hermitage. On the palate, an elixir of black aromas. It is introspective yet endowed with very finely grained tannins. On the verge of a potential legend. For now, the recommended motto: “Do not touch!”. (20/20). 22: Maturing wine-red, subtly lightening. It was definitely much paler than the 1996. The bouquet is astonishingly open and gives up almost everything it contains. Cedar scent, licorice, Dominican tobacco, wonderful herbal tones. On the palate you still sense inky traces, blackberries, minimal lactic nuances, giving it an almost Burgundian, dancing lightness. This, although ultimately there is much more in it than one initially thinks. An underrated Lafite, which can be drunk now but will also be found in thirty or forty years at this brilliant level of pleasure. (20/20).

A baby, still barely evolved at 21 years old, perhaps the slowest out of the blocks of all Five Firsts in this vintage. A high Cabernet Sauvignon year, one of the highest on record, and although you had to be patient, it's clear that the 2000 vintage deserved the plaudits it received on release. The texture is velvety, seductive, with obvious width, and it remains extremely young. I would strongly recommend opening the 2001 over this (not a vintage that I specifically tasted in this vertical, but based on recent examples), or certainly the 1996. If you drink this now you are missing out on the extra layer of nuance that is undoubtedly hidden underneath, although you'll already enjoy cassis purée, savoury black fruits, elegant yet concentrated with precision, heft and finely sculpted tannins, signature Cabernet Sauvignon and signature Lafite. The power comes slowly, expanding through the palate to show graphite, pencil shavings, cigar smoke, all with firm acidities and fantastic grip. 46% of the overall crop went into this wine in the 2000 vintage. A brilliant example of the success at Lafite under the longtime triumvirate of then-owner Baron Éric de Rothschild, CEO Christophe Salin and estate director Charles Chevallier. Last tasted July 2020. 100% new oak.

Intense wine, nobly spiced. Exquisitely refined texture, but a style that demands patience.

Superb fruit expression and distinctly structured tannins. This great Pauillac combines refinement with the vigor of its terroir. Full, long, smooth, and remarkably fresh… A perfect wine, delicious to drink over twenty years.

The colour is brick-hued and the nose is very intense, complex, at peak maturity. The palate is still very young, fairly tannic. 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot.

Logo on the cork: inverted T (Trescases) Intense color, beautiful and youthful. Very ripe fruit on the nose, with a cherry note reminiscent of the Right Bank. Very vanilla-driven. Rich on the entry, very fruity; the wine unfolds juicy, silky and noble in texture. Long and very good.

Perhaps of all the first growths in the totally un-classic 2000, this retains most of the classic Bordeaux. It is certainly almost black in color, while the new wood flavors are very present. But it shows an impressive restraint, leaving the power of the wine to be revealed over the years rather than immediately. This could well be the longest-lived of the Pauillac first growths.