The 2022 Lafon Rochet Bordeaux Blend emerges as a notable wine from the St. Estephe sub-region of Bordeaux, France. This red wine, crafted by producer Lafon Rochet, is a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, and 4% Cabernet Franc. The wine is rich in color and praised for its depth and structure, with multiple reviewers awarding it high scores, notably a 97 from Vinous, which highlights it as the "most elegant wine in Saint-Estèphe."
Jeff Leve from TheWineCellarInsider.com notes the wine's floral and spicy aromas with hints of tobacco leaf, currants, and blackberries. He describes the wine as "medium-bodied, fresh, soft, ripe, round, and polished," with a promising future as it matures. Jeb Dunnuck emphasizes its structure, noting it as "one of the bigger, more structured wines in Saint-Estèphe," requiring some years of cellaring to reach its potential, while offering a robust profile of ripe blackcurrants and smoky blue fruits.
James Suckling commends the wine's "terrific tannin backbone" and "solid fruit," with vivid notes of blackcurrants and berries. The Wine Advocate's William Kelley describes it as "ambitiously styled," with aromas of crème de cassis and burning embers, predicting a possibly conservative score as the wine develops over time.
Jane Anson highlights the wine's aromatic intensity, with notes of baked plum, black pepper, and campfire smoke, attributing the improved quality to the focus of the new management team, led by Christophe Congé, formerly of Lafite. Decanter praises its "fresh and fragrant" qualities, noting its "gorgeous weight in the mouth" and precision.
Overall, the 2022 Lafon Rochet promises a bright future, with a balanced profile of ripe fruit, structured tannins, and a harmonious blend of traditional and modern winemaking techniques.