(18/20) This for me was the most 'Lafite' wine of the evening, and showed none of the weakness of some 1997s. Amazingly deep ruby. Lift and race. Real racehorse thoroughbred qualities. That lovely Lafite ballerina thing - all charm without any weakeness. Long with just a hint of gunpowder. Just lovely: complete and long.

Only 26% of the crop made it into the final blend resulting in only 15000 cases of the 1997 Lafite-Rothschild. Readers should not ignore this wine because of the negative press surrounding the 1997 vintage. It boasts an opaque dense purple color in addition to a gorgeously sweet expansive perfume of cedar wood black currants lead pencil and minerals. What follows is a fat mid-palate medium body explosive fruit and richness soft tannin and a velvety texture. It is a beautiful compelling Lafite-Rothschild that can be drunk young yet promises to evolve for 15+ years. Although one of the most forward Lafites ever tasted it is all the more captivating because of this characteristic. Don't miss it!