James tasted these four Lafite 2019 wines with Technical Director Eric Kohler over Zoom.

Tasting one of the five first growths always sets the tone for the overall vintage in Bordeaux, so it was with great anticipation that I tasted the 2019 barrel sample from Chateau Lafite Rothschild last Friday with Technical Director Eric Kohler.

The quality of the baby Lafite was fantastic, with a stealthy character that slightly hides the superb structure. The aromas were complex yet reserved. Blackcurrants and lead pencil opened to graphite and tar. It’s blue fruits and not red here. The palate is tight with perfectly polished tannins. It may be a perfect wine.

We also tasted the Duhart-Milon, Carruades de Lafite (Lafite Rothschild’s second wine) and L’Evangile 2019, which are all owned by Domaines Baron de Rothschild (Lafite). All of them were classic quality wines at this stage. I find all the wines very close to the 2016 in style with a cooler fruit character and firm and racy tannins.

“It’s a great vintage. It is a great classic vintage with a modern profile,” Kohler said. “You have all the parameters of a classic vintage but at the same time it is very accessible. Everything is here. Everything is in a good position, the harmony, the precision; it is a great Lafite. It’s just perfect.”

He added that Baron Eric de Rothschild, one of the long time owners of Lafite, said it was a “perfect compromise between classicism and modernity.”

As I wrote in my first report on the 2019 en primeur, many of the 2019 wines are of the same quality as 2018, albeit with less exuberance and plushness in fruit and tannins. The wines seem more typical for Bordeaux than the 2018s, showing more balance of alcohol, cool and blue fruits and fine linear tannins that are refined and driven.

So which is better – the 2018 or 2019? As Kohler said, we will likely be debating this question for some time.

Watch the videos below for some highlights of our tasting session, and see the scores and notes below the videos.

This is part of an extensive en primeur tasting campaign being conducted by James, which has already covered 850 wines, with about 200 more to come. The reports are listed below:

Bordeaux en primeur first report: A potentially challenging vintage
Bordeaux en primeur second report: 850 notes and scores
Pricing report: Pontet-Canet’s decision to slash its prices