Lafon Rochet 2011 Revisited
Deep ruby colour with a tight rim. Reflecting the terroir of St Estephe with a certain uniqueness in style, this 2011 from a blend of Merlot 33%, Cabernet Sauvignon 59%, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. Broodingly rich and oozing sweet, it gives on the nose fleshy plum and cassis fruit. In this sense, this wine is simple. If you bottle-decant it for 3 hours + to reveal its real potential to include tones of the earth and funk, this wine, in another sense, is complicated.
By now, even this lighter 2011 vintage gives a full palate of concentration, flavour, textured tannins, dense black fruits, hints of boysenberry, cedar, a touch of pepper, a certain roundness, slick and smooth finish that is still a bit of reserve. Indeed there are strong supporters for this wine even though some would say there is a shortage of fruitiness by Cru Standard. After all, the vintage 2011 is not easy to come by on the market. Chunky and not as refined, it could do with being a degree less macerated and less oak. But this style is iconic of Lafon Rochet, of excellent value for its quality and stylistics, and probably can keep well for another three years.
Scores are stable.
93 Tim Atkins. This isn't a wine for the fainthearted, but you must admire how it screams St Estèphe at the top of its voice: brooding, super rich and very tannic. The oak is perhaps a bit heavy-handed, but there's plenty of sweet, fleshy plum and cassis fruit. An ambitious wine that should soak up the barrel staves in the bottle. 10+ years. Edited.
WE92Wine Enthusiast
This wine has great potential—you can tell from the firm tannins, tight acidity and closed texture. Initially, black currant flavours are touched with dark, dusty notes, but they finish with a more juicy character on the aftertaste. Drink from 2017. Edited.
