93pts James Suckling

This red has a very pretty focus and transparency, with plums, redcurrants and just a hint of chocolate and hazelnuts. Medium-bodied. Impressive, integrated tannins fold beautifully into the wine.

92pts Vinous

The 2021 Lafon-Rochet is very good, although there are some rustic contours that are impossible to look past. Dark fruit, spice, lavender and licorice are some of the notes that open in the glass. Overall, the 2021 feels a bit chunky, especially for a wine that tends to be more linear and medium-weight in build. –Antonio Galloni

91pts Decanter

Super ripe and perfumed on the nose. Bright, almost searing on the palate then chalky with a crystalline mineral edged finish. Clean and precise, lacks a touch more density on the mid palate, but this is well worked with balance and a long salty finish. Cool blue fruits are lovely as are the licks of menthol, eucalyptus and flint.

91pts Jeb Dunnuck

The last vintage made by Basile Tesseron and 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Melot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, the 2021 Château Lafon-Rochet is outstanding stuff that clearly does well in the vintage. Cassis, graphite, lead pencil, and ripe tobacco notes all give way to a medium-bodied Saint-Estèphe with fine tannins, solid concentration (especially in the vintage), and a balanced, layered, seamless profile that will evolve nicely for two decades. The tannin quality here is terrific.

90pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2021 Lafon-Rochet offers up aromas of cassis, licorice and pencil shavings, followed by a medium-bodied, supple and charming palate that's seamless and harmonious, framed by soft, powdery tannins, concluding with a minty finish.

Winery Notes

This ancient estate can trace its origins back to the early 16th century, at which time "Rochet" belonged to the vast Vallée Roussillon feudal estate. Chateau Lafon-Rochet stayed in the Lafon family for two years, despite the upheaval of the French Revolution. They were also owners in 1855, when their wine received the ultimate recognition as a great growth, along with only four others in the Saint-Estèphe appellation.
The chateau is in a choice location, in one of the most prestigious winegrowing areas in the world – between Cos d'Estoumel and Lafite-Rothschild (to the south). It is thus hardly surprising that Guy Tesseron, famous for the quality of his old Cognac, was attracted to Lafon-Rochet some 40 years ago.

After acquiring the estate, he decided that the existing cellar was unworthy of such a fine wine, and had it razed. He built an entirely new one and, in a highly unusual move, built a new chateau as well, in the style of the 17th century chartreuse manor house. Thanks to the great care and attention lavished on Lafon-Rochet, it has become one of the standard bearers of the great wines of Saint-Estèphe in France and around the world.