Back to back, to back… to back… great vintages of one of the best value Bordeaux on the market
Lafon Rochet 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020 – That is four of the best vintages so far this century. 

2015 has truly made phenomenal, transparent wines that emphasize the greatness of their terroirs. This vintage is definitely a new benchmark for Bordeaux. JAMES SUCKLING 

The bottled 2016s capture every bit of the potential I sensed when I started tasting the wines from barrel, prior to en primeur, in January 2017. I found many 2016s to be even better from bottle than they were during the spring futures campaign. The best 2016s are powerful, richly layered, vibrant and stunningly beautiful, not to mention incredibly delicious and alluring. For so many wines and estates, 2016 is an epic vintage ANTONIO GALLONI 

I have always loved vintages that make great wines that impress you with the nose before the palate. And 2019 does just that. JAMES SUCKLING

Two thousand-twenty is an incredibly exciting vintage for Bordeaux. After having tasted more than 800 wines for this report, my conclusion is that 2020 is by far the most consistent of the three vintages in Bordeaux’s so-called trilogy spanning 2018 through 2020. It is a year brimming with phenomenal wines at all levels, from the big names down to bottles the average consumer can still afford to purchase by the case.In tasting, the 2020s marry the richness of fruit with tension and energy. It’s that interplay that makes so many wines exciting. In some places, alcohols are down, which shifts them into more classic proportions, the likes of which we have not seen in years. In short, 2020 is a great modern-day Bordeaux vintage. ANTONIO GALLONI

Basile has been “building” the Lafon-Rochet in recent years after taking the reins from his father Michel, not only in terms of investing in a new winery replete with de rigueur concrete vats, but building the reputation of the name itself. People talk of the “big three”: Cos d’Estournel, Montrose and Calon-Ségur. Clearly in Basile’s eyes it should be the “fab four” and you know what? Judging by the latest release that is entirely possible.
This is a property that has come a long way since just a decade ago. I returned to my car and thought that Lafon-Rochet has a rightful place, shoulder-to-shoulder, with the other three big names that lest we forget, have far deeper pockets than the Tesseron family. Factor in potential price and Lafon-Rochet might represent the best value for money. NEAL MARTIN, 2018

I think it is fair to say that Lafon Rochet has a well deserved reputation as being an overachiever amongst its peers. Certainly the releases of the last decade or so have really been hitting all the right notes. Along with Pontet Canet, which has the same owners, these two estates have rocketed in to the limelight with a series of superb releases. This seems to coincide, as it did with Pontet, with the improvements in their viticultural practices, their conversion to Biodynamics (I hope by now people know my stance on that, if I may not believe in everything that goes along with this method of farming, I can’t argue with the fact that the extra work and consideration it takes to approach your vineyard in this fashion does result in better fruit through more attentive farming) and the search for more transparency and a more finessed style. 

In many ways these wines are your textbook St Estephe, with their finer line of acidity that enlivens rather darkly robust fruit. The tannins are pronounced but they are also matched up against that fulsome profile and bold flavour. Deep wines of substance and power that does not scream about its potential immediately, rather they can seem somewhat reserved and stately in their youth. Lafon Rochet really eases in to its own at around the ten year mark when some of that phenolic heft begins to recede in to those wells of fruit. 

They aren’t big bruisers, Lafon Rochet, at its best, relies on its balance of components to carry it forward in the cellar. Brighter acidity, a reserve tank of power, grit and grip make for excellent scaffolding and support. We begin to see the unfurling of the glorious perfume and bold flavour in the two older wines, both of which are still very primary but just tapping on the window of its early stages of maturity. 

With all four they represent unreal value from genuinely great vintages, all of which are regarded as among the best in recent times. All very different in their delivery but all carrying the theme of Lafon Rochet with their more refined, self-assured nature, the gravelly, sturdy tannins and that beautiful core of flavour. I don’t think I had a favourite, they are all essentially equal in quality, but there was a touch more elegance and vivacity to the 2016, as I guess you would expect from the vintage, which really caught my attention. That wine, and the 15 are just starting to show you what they can do, so if you wanted some with a little less time required I would jump on them. 

However, that 2020 is an absolute cracker and, perhaps, will outclass the others with time. Certainly it feels a bit more compact and dense than the rest, or what I think the 15 and 16 would have felt like at that age, that leads me to maybe, just maybe, put it ahead of the 16, if it is given adequate time to mature. 

Either way, all four are belters. The whole team, even those not so enamoured with Bordeaux, all seemed pretty taken with the bracket. Hard not to be impressed when you are confronted with four wines of this calibre, in such a classic fashion, and then to find out the prices, that last bit really drives it home, these are brilliant and will reward anyone who has the patience to put them to rest in a cellar for some time. I bet these will walk around the table if they are opened within their prime drinking windows. 

With that last point in mind, the fact that I would suggest each have at least a decade of life before you open them, if you really want to see what they are made of, I have tweaked the six pack prices a bit to encourage people to buy cases. You will appreciate it when the time comes.