Ratings & Tasting Notes:

100 points — Wine Advocate (Robert Parker, August 2014)
Parker places the 2003 as close to perfection as any of the great Lafites of the preceding three decades, and finds it made in the style of one of the estate’s classics, the 1959. Dense ruby-purple to the rim, with a luxurious bouquet of cedarwood, lead pencil shavings, white chocolate, cocoa and cassis. Fat, rich, opulent and full-bodied, with low acidity and stunning seductiveness and complexity, in a bountiful, generous, heady style. He records 12.7% natural alcohol and a blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot and the balance Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, judges it just entering its plateau of maturity with twenty to twenty-five years to hold, and names it a candidate for wine of the vintage.

98 points — James Suckling (March 2011)
Spicy and rich, with a tobacco and berry character running through the nose and palate — a nose Suckling singles out for particular praise. Full-bodied, with soft velvety tannins that give a great deal, and a finish that goes on and on. Sexy and exciting on the day, though he advised leaving it five or six years.

97 points — Wine Enthusiast (May 2006)
A splendid wine, and more powerful than the usual aristocratic Lafite, yet still retaining a special air of great elegance and presence. The fruits are black, the tannins immensely powerful, the flavours of black figs, dates and cocoa. A vibrant acidity shows through at the close, promising a great life ahead.

96 points — Wine Spectator (March 2006)
Subtle, complex aromas of berries, liquorice and currants. Full-bodied, with well-integrated tannins and a long finish — a very well-integrated wine, with wonderful length and finesse.

Cult Wines International Notes:

Château Lafite-Rothschild is among the most famous and most collected wines in the world, ranked first among the First Growths in the 1855 classification, with an estate history reaching back to at least the thirteenth century and a roll of owners that runs through Louis XV’s court to the Rothschild family. Its 112 hectares sit on the high ground of northern Pauillac, on fine deep gravel mixed with aeolian sand over a subsoil of tertiary limestone. Pauillac produces the sternest, most structured wines of the Left Bank, yet Lafite is known for an understated elegance atypical of its neighbours — a wine built on perfume, precision and restraint rather than power.

2003 was the year of the European heatwave, and it produced a Bordeaux vintage unlike any other in living memory. Lafite came through it exceptionally, delivering a wine of unusual richness while holding its natural alcohol to 12.7%. The blend is 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot and the balance Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Dense ruby-purple to the rim, it offers cassis, black figs and dates over cedarwood, lead pencil shavings, white chocolate, cocoa, liquorice and tobacco. Full-bodied, fat and opulent, with low acidity and a bountiful, heady generosity rare for this address, yet holding the estate’s signature elegance and a vibrant acidic lift at the close. More powerful than the classic Lafite profile, and for many critics a candidate for wine of the vintage.

Bottle Size:

750 mL

Storage History:

Always stored on its side in a climate-controlled cellar.

Condition:

Label has a vertical scratch on the right side as shown in the photos. Otherwise, outstanding condition.

Please note: The condition of the bottle you will receive is accurately reflected by the one shown in the images.