It is a new look Lafite-Rothschild. Willows still weep where rolling lawn meets tarmac and the vineyard is exactly the same. It is faces that have changed. Eric Kohler replaced Charles Chevalier a few years ago (though it was a pleasure to meet Charles at a soirée, incidentally where they served a brilliant 1998.) Then this year, Saskia de Rothschild replaces her father Baron Eric de Rothschild and Jean-Guillaume Prats departs LVMH to replace the (shy and) retiring, Christophe Salin. No doubt fresh blood will give new impetus to this historic estate that celebrates the 150th anniversary of Baron James de Rothschild’s assiduous purchase. Jean-Guillaume has huge experience not only at LVMH, but of course, at its neighbor across the tributary, Cos d’Estournel (indeed, one wonders if he was considered to replace the departing Aymeric de Gironde.) Saskia brings worldly experience having pursued a successful and peripatetic career as a journalist, during conversation professing a passion for Ethiopia, a country that must seem miles away from the rarefied air of a First Growth. She is young, energetic and with a refreshingly wry sense of humor that will always stand you in good stead.

But it was Eric Kohler that detailed the 2017 growing season in the first or two visits I made to the property. “First of all, the vintage began with a big problem because on 26 and 27 April there was a lot of frost however, it was very different to the one back in 1991. Lafite-Rothschild was only affected in the vines that go into the second wine of Duhart-Milon. [L’Evangile was affected 40% and Rieussec by 15%.] It was close being to a black frost – you might call it a grey frost. So in affected places it was terribly strong and in other places, nothing. After that, the weather was excellent for practically the entire year. May was very nice with a good balance between rain and temperature that made the vines grow rapidly. The flowering was early at the end of May, the mi-floraison around 28/29 May. It was very homogenous and rapid, which was good for production. It was one of the best flowerings I’ve seen. June saw good weather, hot with no rain, and the growth was almost too quick, so that we were almost a fortnight in advance. At the end of June there was 80-100mm of rain over a week and this reduced the temperature. Throughout July, the climate was nice, not particularly hot and a little colder than average. August was the same in the beginning and then we realized that at the end of June we were not as advanced in the [growing] cycle. When we came back from vacation at the end of August and made the first analyses, we saw great potential in terms of tannins and anthocyanins, more or less the same level as 2016. The cool summer was not a problem because it had slowed the advance. Then there was one week of rain from 11 September, 50mm to 80mm, 60mm here at Lafite-Rothschild, so we were anxious. This prompted a more rapid harvest as we saw the risk of botrytis, though optical sorting helped eradicate any rot. The rain stopped on 18 September. We started picking the Cabernet Sauvignon around 19 or 20 September, finishing on 29 September.”

I ask Eric about the vinification of the 2017s. “It was more difficult to get the color but the wine changed a lot during the maceration. This year it was incredibly important. Even the analysis changed in terms of higher IPT. The second positive effect was the vin de presse. This was very useful, especially for the rich and sweet Cabernet Sauvignon. We did a big selection to the point where I tasted like a vin de goute. After that the wine increased throughout December.”

It has been a few years since I have written this but I suspect that Lafite-Rothschild may well be the pick of the First Growth this year. Only by a whisker mind you, but it has a “je ne sais quoi” that it lacked in recent years. It is often a subtle wine out of barrel, rarely one that sets the pulse racing at such an early stage. However, in 2017 I felt there was a little more ambition and refinement, a touch more density towards the finish. Returning to verify my observations, if anything a second showing in mid-April confirmed that this is a really quite fantastic Lafite-Rothschild, a contender for the best wine on the Left Bank.

2017 Carruades de Lafite

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