A candidate for the -wine of the vintage,- the 2008 should have been purchased before it began to soar in value because of the significance of the number 8 in the Chinese culture (denoting good luck). Representing 40% of the production, this blend of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc offers aromas of high quality unsmoked cigar tobacco, lead pencil shavings, creme de cassis, earth, cedar and asphalt. Full, rich and stunningly concentrated, I doubt it is inferior to the 2010, just more classic as well as slightly more forward and a degree weaker in alcoholic potency (12.5% versus 13.5%). The 2008 should be relatively drinkable in 6-10 years as it is already showing remarkable complexity and breed, and will last for 30-35 years...at the minimum.

Drinking Window: 2017 - 2052

Reviewer Name: Robert M. Parker, Jr.

Review Date: 2nd May 2011

Elegance in a glass, this is very upright in structure with enticing acidity and black berry fruits. It has weight as well as richness. No question about the aging potential of this superb wine.

Reviewer Name: Roger Voss

Review Date: 1st April 2011

Minerals, tar and sous bois with dark fruit. Sweet tobacco. Black licorice. Full and chewy with lots of fruit but very reserved. So much mineral and sweet tobacco. It is all there. Give it four to five years of bottle age before beginning to explore the wine.

Drinking Window: 2020 - 2050

Review Date: 20th December 2010

The 2008 Lafite Rothschild had a distinguished nose, and a warm, oven-baked goodness to its nose, just like Mom used to make lol. There was not only cinnamon, but more really cinnamon toast with a granulated sweetness and even a hint of butter. Its deep fruit was laying low in the background, also elegant and reserved like its sibling Duhart, but more omni-present. There were blacker fruit flavors here, with lots of supporting, youthful leather. Its finish was fuller, longer, deeper and stronger than the Duhart, very dry times two with its powerful tannins. Its serious length kept going and going, and Charles commented how 'great terroirs auto-regulate pH, acid and alcohol' (95).

Drinking Window: 2020 - 2050

The 2008 Lafite-Rothschild is one of the few wines that’s still obviously closed and backward, yet nevertheless shows incredible potential. Made from a blend of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, and 4% Cabernet Franc (which is more Merlot than normal), it offers textbook Lafite elegance and class in its perfume of lead pencil, cedarwood, cigar smoke, and mineral-laced black fruits. Playing in the medium to full-bodied spectrum, it’s deceivingly concentrated and powerful due to its perfect balance and purity as well as weightless texture. Hide bottles for 4-5 years and enjoy this classic Lafite over the following 30 years or so.

Drinking Window: 2023 - 2053

Review Date: 28th February 2019

Extremely Cabernet dominant, with savoury black fruit and a ton of Pauillac character. A fairly reserved, finely-boned Lafite, with menthol and tobacco leaf. Subdued right now but in it for the long haul. The vintage with the Chinese symbol for eight engraved on the bottle, to commemorate the planting of the Long Dai vineyard in China - a fact that made the price of this bottle shoot up when it was released. Harvest October 1 to 14. 40% of overall production.

Drinking Window: 2021 - 2038

Reviewer Name: Jane Anson

Review Date: 9th February 2021

The 2008 Lafite Rothschild put in a strange showing at the previous horizontal just a few weeks earlier. This bottle is much better. It has a deep color with little ageing on the rim. On the nose there is ample fruit, blackberry and bilberry with notes of pencil lead and sage, but overall there is just more intensity than the previous bottle. The palate is well balanced with fine grain tannin and good density, a facet occasionally lacking in Lafite-Rothschild. There is just a touch of brown sugar and sage towards the finish that fortunately does not attenuate like the previous bottle. This is much more representative and whilst not the best First Growth of the vintage, it certainly shows more sophistication and class even if it does not match its more stellar showings just after bottling. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 10-Year On tasting.

Drinking Window: 2020 - 2045

Reviewer Name: Neal Martin

Review Date: 1st May 2018

Full ruby-red with a purple tinge. Crushed cassis, blackberry, violet, cedar and graphite on the very fresh, complex nose. Juicy, spicy and penetrating, with lovely harmonious acids providing great clarity and cut to the black fruit and graphite flavors. Still youthfully closed and very mineral. Finishes pure and extremely long, with very fine tannins. This may yet turn out to be the wine of the vintage, but it will require patience.

Reviewer Name: Stephen Tanzer

Review Date: 1st July 2011

(a blend of 83% cabernet sauvignon, 13% merlot and 4% cabernet franc) Deep purple-ruby. Dense, rich, absolutely classic Lafite nose redolent of blackcurrant, cedar and graphite. Enters fat, with blackberry, licorice and underbrush flavors framed by strong but harmonious acids and youthful tannins that will need time to resolve. This is presently the most backward and closed of the Medoc first growths in '08, but should prove spectacular in time: insiders know that cooler vintages such as '08 are perfectly suited to Lafite's terroir, a case in point being the '88, an initially austere wine that has come around magnificently.

Reviewer Name: Ian d'Agata

Review Date: 1st May 2009

Supple and harmonious already, with inviting, almost plush blackberry, plum and fig fruit notes carried by fine-grained, lightly cedary structure. Black tea and sandalwood flash on the finish. Poised now, but has the stuffing for more time in bottle. Drink now through 2020. — JM

Reviewer Name: James Molesworth

Review Date: 30th April 2011