2016 Ch Lafon-Rochet, St-Estèphe

An explosion of all manner of black berries with discreet, toasty and smoky oak, makes this a joyful St.-Estèphe. Then the great balance of ripeness, lively acidity and velvety tannins come together beautifully at the elegant finish to make this the best wine from this producer in modern times. Needs two or three years to soften. Try in 2022.

94 points jamessuckling.com, Jan 2019

The 2016 Lafon Rochet is a blend of 25% Merlot, 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Petit Verdot and 6% Cabernet Franc cropped at 46 hectoliters per hectare and matured in 50% new oak. The harvest was between 1 October and 20 October. The alcohol is 13.6%, which is just a little higher here than say Cos d'Estournel or Montrose. It has a very succinct bouquet with blackberry, bilberry and light oyster shell aromas, classic in style, more reserved than I found the 2015 Lafon Rochet last year. The palate is medium-bodied with powerful tannin on the entry, a keen line of acidity (3.65 pH), fine symmetry with a pleasant rondeur on the finish sprinkled with black pepper and tobacco. This is a very fine Lafon Rochet from Basile Tesseron and his team. 

91-93 points Neal Martin robertparker.com