1961 | Chateau Lafite Rothschild | Pauillac Fashion

1961 | Chateau Lafite Rothschild | Pauillac

Red Wine: 1961 | Chateau Lafite Rothschild | Pauillac

A really good, suave example of Lafite from a vintage in which it often tastes harsh and unyielding with tannins. This bottle blends spicy, nutmeglike aromas with abundant fruit flavors and meaty undertones.

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Producer: Chateau Lafite Rothschild

Ratings: WA | 91  WS | 94

Vintage: 1961

Size: 750ml

ABV: 12.5%

Varietal: Bordeaux Blend Red

Country/Region: France, Bordeaux

Detailed Description

A really good, suave example of Lafite from a vintage in which it often tastes harsh and unyielding with tannins. This bottle blends spicy, nutmeglike aromas with abundant fruit flavors and meaty undertones.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: A Possible Legend Candidate. Only once out of ten bottles has the 1961 merited an outstanding rating. (Rated 91 points in 12/1993, from magnum: “After a dozen or more disappointing examples of this wine in a regular format (750 ml), I finally bestowed an outstanding rating on this renowned wine. This magnum possessed surprisingly deep color for Lafite, a sweet, caramel, cedary, lead pencil-scented nose, rich, medium-bodied, spicy flavors with noticeable tannin, high acidity, and a long finish. Other examples of the 1961 Lafite have displayed a light color with considerable orange/rush, attenuated, thin flavors, and excessive acidity. There has been speculation that the 1961 Lafite was bottled over an extraordinarily long time, and that the earlier-bottled examples possess more fruit than those bottled later.

• Wine Spectator: Tasted from magnum. A really good, suave example of Lafite from a vintage in which it often tastes harsh and unyielding with tannins. This bottle blends spicy, nutmeglike aromas with abundant fruit flavors and meaty undertones. It is plenty firm and tannic, but not overly so. The finish is exceptionally long, too.

Producer Information

Château Lafite Rothschild is a wine estate in the Pauillac region of the Médoc, producing one of the most sought-after and expensive red wines in the world. Lafite Rothschild is known for its perfume, elegance, finesse and harmony, in contrast to the more powerful Latour and Mouton Rothschild. Nevertheless, great vintages can age for 50 years or more. The precise blend of grand vin can vary depending on the vintage. It often contains between 80-95 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, with Merlot making up much of the rest. In the winery, each plot of grapes is kept seperate for the fermentation to preserve their terroir and allow for maximum control at blending. The wine is aged for up to 20 months in new oak barrels. Carruades de Lafite is the second wine, with a strong following in its own right. More Merlot (30-50 percent) appears in the final blend. It is aged for 18-20 months, with 80 percent in barrels and 20 percent in tank. The Lafite Rothschild vineyard covers around 112 hectares (277 acres) on sunny, well-drained sites made up of fine gravel and sand over limestone subsoil. The vineyard is divided into three parts: the vines on the hillsides around the château provide the core material for the grand vin, while the adjacent Carruades plateau to the west is more responsible for the second wine that bears its name. Additionally a 4.5ha (11 acre) plot in Saint-Estèphe also belongs to the estate; unusually it has permission to include the fruit in its Pauillac-classified wines. Around 70 percent of the vineyards are planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, with 25 percent to Merlot, 3 percent to Cabernet Franc and 2 percent to Petit Verdot. The average age of the vines is 40 years old. The neighboring property Duhart-Milon is under the same ownership, and managed by the same team as Lafite. Domaines Barons de Rothschild also owns the Premier Grand Cru Classé Château Rieussec in Sauternes, Château L’Évangile in Pomerol, and three Bordeaux brands, Légende, Saga and Résérve Spéciale. Properties further afield include Domaine d’Aussières in Languedoc, Los Vascos in Chile and Bodegas Caro in Mendoza, Argentina.