2021 Lafon Rochet

The last vintage made by Basile Tesseron and 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Melot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, the 2021 Château Lafon-Rochet is outstanding stuff that clearly does well in the vintage. Cassis, graphite, lead pencil, and ripe tobacco notes all give way to a medium-bodied Saint-Estèphe with fine tannins, solid concentration (especially in the vintage), and a balanced, layered, seamless profile that will evolve nicely for two decades. The tannin quality here is terrific.

The 2021 Lafon-Rochet bears all the traits of Pauillac on the nose, displaying potent graphite scents that would draw you "south of the border" from Saint-Estèphe. There’s mainly black fruit here, slightly earthy and maybe missing the vivacity of top recent vintages. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins. It has gained a little more weight and cohesion since I tasted it from barrel, showing ample freshness with a tang of seaweed toward the finish. It is not a long-term Lafon-Rochet but it will give 15 years of pleasure, possibly more.

The 2021 Lafon-Rochet is very good, although there are some rustic contours that are impossible to look past. Dark fruit, spice, lavender and licorice are some of the notes that open in the glass. Overall, the 2021 feels a bit chunky, especially for a wine that tends to be more linear and medium-weight in build.