BORDEAUX, France — The gap in performace between Chateau Lafite Rothschild and lesser growths of the Pauillac district in the 2006 vintage is striking. I should be surprised, but I’m not.
There is an obsessive dedication to the image and prestige of the grand vin, among all of the first growths, that at one time didn’t exist. Where once there was acceptance and resignation toward the vagaries of nature and the subsequent impact on each vintage; today failure is not an option.
The great growths now take whatever measures are necessary to ensure the estate’s flagship wine upholds the standards of the chateau, regardless of conditions on the ground during the growing season.
I’ll call this the “Parker effect.” As a long-time Bordeaux collector, I noticed the shift in attitude in the middle of the 1980s, or about the time that wine critic Robert Parker Jr. emerged as the most influential voice in the world on matters of wine quality.
Parker was never intimitated by the power and prestige of the famous chateaux. He held their feet to the fire and criticized the wines when appropriate. Many in the British wine press have taken cheap shots at Parker in recent years, motivated I suspect out of jealousy for his influence over an area of wine they consider their domain.
But I don’t think the 2006 Lafite (97 points) would have been as good in this tricky vintage had Parker not come along when he did and weighed in with biting criticism of the medicore first gowths produced in the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s.
All of us who enjoy drinking good Bordeaux should be grateful for that.
Now, as for the ’06 Lafite, it has yet to develop the famous Lafite cedar-pencil bouquet (which evolves over time in bottle) but the barrel samples presented at the 2006 Bordeaux primeurs show a stylish Lafite with superb structure and remarkable elegance, with beautifully integrated tannins.
Lafite’s second label, Carruades de Lafite, illustrates the selection made by Lafite in this vintage. Carruades exhibits coarse tannins that will take years to resolve, tannins that could have brought the grand vin down a peg if not for careful selection.
Lafite’s sister estate, Chateau Duhart-Milon (90 points), displays some of the Lafite elegance, but without the depth of the first growth.
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