New Arrivals
Advanced Search
wine regions
quick links

Lafon Rochet 1996

St Estephe, Fourth Growth

Excel download

View All Vintages of this Wine

Units Size Case size GBP Price: Quantities Buy
Tasting Notes

The 1996 Lafon-Rochet is a wine that I had not tasted for nearly one decade. It was always a modest 1996 Saint Estèphe. The nose is pleasant with blackberry and briary aromas, cedar and sandalwood, but perhaps what is missing vigor. You almost end up giving it a kick up the rear to offer more intensity. The palate is well balanced and delivers a pleasant fleshy mouthfeel. It feels saline in the mouth with a generous pinch of black pepper towards the finish. This is drinking beautifully now and if your expectations and not lofty, you will enjoy this Lafon-Rochet that is à point. Tasted July 2016.

Score: 89

Neal Martin, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2016-2028 28 October 2016

One of the sleepers of the 1996 vintage, Lafon-Rochet has turned out an atypically powerful, rich, and concentrated wine bursting with black currant fruit. The opaque purple color gives way to a medium to full-bodied, tannic, backward wine with terrific purity, a sweet, concentrated mid-palate, and a long, blockbuster finish. This wine remains one of the finest values from the luxury-priced 1996 vintage, and is well-worth purchasing by readers who are willing to invest 5-6 years of patience; it should keep for two decades. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2020.

Score: 90

Robert Parker, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2005-2020 30 April 1999