1990 Lafite Rothschild

Interestingly, a bottle of 1990 Lafite Rothschild I pulled from my cellar for a video blog on my web site was still buttoned down, tight, and even with extended decanting was not showing as much as I would have hoped. However, a bottle tasted, of all places, in Seoul, Korea in February, was only a few points short of perfection. That amazing performance motivated me to pull another bottle out of my cellar and follow it over the course of two days. Sure enough, by the second day the wine was roaring from the glass. The 1990 Lafite has turned out far better than my early assessment. While it still possesses some firmness, and performs like a late adolescent in terms of its evolution, it boasts gorgeous aromas of cedar, tobacco leaf, cassis, and lead pencil shavings. The explosive aromas are followed by a fleshy, full-bodied wine that should hit its peak in 5-8 years, and last for 25-30 more.

Very serious fruit, with juicy berry, tobacco and cedar character. Slightly more body than the 1989, but they are very close in character. I would give this a little more time. -'89/'90 Bordeaux non-blind horizontal. Best after 2007. 25,000 cases made.

Tasted three times: powerful and decadent after ten years but then at the Farr horizontal in October 2004 it was found a little wanting, with a reticent, woody nose and a touch of greenness of the palate (possibly due to the 17% addition of vin de presse?) Then at the FWE Lafite vertical in December 2005. A deep garnet hue with deep brick rim. A ripe nose of black tea, raisin, mulberry with fine delineation and restraint. Typically exotic in style. The palate is gorgeous: very ripe, black cherries, plum and prune. Very good acidity cutting through that lush, opulent fruit. A vivacious, ravishing Lafite but it lacks the persistency on the finish. Neal Martin, eRobertParker.com