Of the five First Growths, Lafite is the reticent one. The estate has been famous since the eighteenth century, when the Marquis de Ségur's wines reached the French court, and it has been in Rothschild hands since 1868. The vineyards lie on gravel rises at the northern edge of Pauillac, right up against the Saint-Estèphe boundary, and the wine they give is scented rather than muscular: cedar, pencil lead and a restraint that people either find maddening or spend years chasing.
The 1985 growing season was warm and dry, with a long clear autumn that let the Cabernet finish properly — a considerable relief after the frost damage of the previous year. Lafite's 1985 has always been described as one of the more delicate wines of the vintage rather than one of the biggest, which is precisely the house style.
A bottle like this has spent four decades in cellars, changing hands and never being opened. That is rather the point of it as a gift: the year is fixed, and so is the bottle.
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Producer: Château Lafite Rothschild
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Vintage: 1985
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Appellation: Pauillac AOC
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Format: 75cl
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Region: Bordeaux, France
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Style: Red
Where it is likely to be now. This was never a blockbuster and is now fully mature — likely delicate and cedary if it has been stored properly — and like every pre-1990 bottle it is sold as a collectible object rather than with a promise that it will pour perfectly.
Who it suits. A gift for someone born in 1985 and marking their forty-first year, for whom the name on the label will register immediately.
Condition. Recorded as good condition by the merchant holding it, with no faults noted against the label, capsule or fill.
Provenance. Bought to order from a professional European merchant. We check fill, label and capsule when the bottle reaches us and photograph it before it ships.
Delivered in 7 to 10 working days, tracked. Transit cover can be added at checkout.
Sold as a collectible item, as seen. No guarantee is given on drinkability.
