Château Lafon Rochet - Saint-Estèphe 1995

Wine Advocate

92 / 100

par Robert Parker le 01/09/1998

The superb 1995 may be the finest wine Lafon-Rochet has ever made. It boasts an opaque black/purple, inky color. This large-scaled, powerful, full-bodied wine will not win too many friends early in its life, but readers with youth and patience would be well-advised to lay away a case or two of this impressively extracted wine. The sweet tannin may become more integrated in less than 10 years. A very impressive, albeit brawny wine. Anticipated maturity: 2006-2025. Last tasted 1/97

Wine Advocate

89 / 100

par Robert Parker le 28/02/1998

This wine may merit an outstanding score after several more years in the bottle. Although it has closed down since bottling, it is an impressively endowed, rich, sweet cassis smelling and tasting Lafon-Rochet. The wine's impressively saturated deep ruby/purple color is accompanied by vanillin, earth, and spicy scents, medium to full body, excellent to outstanding richness, and moderate tannin in the powerful, well-delineated finish. Anticipated maturity: 2003-2018.

Wine Spectator

93 / 100

par James Suckling le 31/01/1998

The best wine ever produced at this estate. So sexy, so wonderful now--but be patient. Dark in color, ruby, inky. Blueberries, cream and vanilla character. Full-bodied, with full yet fine tannins. It literally massages your palate. Best after 2001

Wine Advocate

90-93 / 100

par Robert Parker le 28/02/1997

Readers should keep an eye out for Lafon-Rochet, one of the emerging stars of St.-Estephe. Beginning with the 1994 vintage, the stricter selection and dedication of the Tesseron family are pushing this wine into a higher qualitative category. Moreover, prices for Lafon-Rochet remain low! The superb 1995 may be the finest wine Lafon-Rochet has ever made. It boasts an opaque black/purple, inky color. This large-scaled, powerful, full-bodied wine will not win too many friends early in its life, but readers with youth and patience would be well-advised to lay away a case or two of this impressively extracted wine. The sweet tannin may become more integrated in less than 10 years. A very impressive, albeit brawny wine. Anticipated maturity: 2006-2025.

Wine Advocate

90-93 / 100

par Robert Parker le 30/04/1996

The 1995 Lafon-Rochet is clearly one of the sleepers of the vintage. With riper Cabernet Sauvignon, lower acidity, and sweeter tannin than the 1994, this wine will be something special if the owners permit it (i.e., provided they do not excessively fine and filter it). On three separate occasions I was super-impressed by just how powerful, pure, and concentrated Lafon-Rochet is in 1995. This has never been a wine that exhibits a lot of complexity with aging, but I am optimistic that that will change with the 1994 and 1995 vintages. Although the 1995 is still monolithic, it is an outstanding example of the vintage. The wine possesses all of the necessary ingredients to be a superb 1995. I would move quickly on this one since the price is sure to be low. My guess is that the wine will need 4-5 years of cellaring and will last for 20 or more. The Tesseron family, the proprietor of Pontet-Canet, have obviously decided to upgrade the quality of that estate, so it is not surprising that their other well-known Medoc estate, Lafon-Rochet, is also benefiting from greater attention to detail and a stricter selection. This moderately priced wine merits more attention from readers looking to maximize their purchasing power.