- Château Lafon-Rochet 2022 has been released for £420 per 12×75.
- ‘A sense of confidence and composure’, said Neal Martin who scored it 92-94 points.
- Buyers looking for value have plenty of options among back vintages.
As part of this year’s Bordeaux En Primeur campaign, Château Lafon-Rochet 2022 has been released at €34 per bottle ex-négociant, up 33.3% on the 2021 release (€25.50 per bottle).
It is being offered by the international trade for £420 per 12×75, a 40% increase on the 2021’s opening price (£300 a case).
This is the first vintage under the new team led by Christophe Congé, who was previously at Château Lafite Rothschild for over 22 years.
At this price, the 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2020 vintages look better value in relation to today’s release. See more pricing analysis below.
Critics’ scores
Neal Martin (Vinous) scored this year’s Lafon-Rochet 92-94 points. In his tasting note, he commented that it is ‘quite classic in style’ and added that he ‘admire[s] the balance and precision’.
‘The 2022 Lafon-Rochet is fabulous’, wrote Antonio Galloni (Vinous), who awarded the wine a barrel range of 95-97 points. He theorises that 2022 ‘signals a new era for the château’.
Lisa Perrotti-Brown (Wine Independent) scored the wine at a range of 93-95 points, praising the ‘impressive effort’ of the first full vintage under new management.
William Kelley (Wine Advocate) rated the 2022 Lafon-Rochet at 90-92, with praise for the ‘rather lavish, demonstrative profile.’ He adds the caveat that ‘if élevage is kind to it, it may make [his] score seem conservative’.
Fair Value analysis
There is no significant correlation between Lafon-Rochet Market Prices and Neal Martin scores – the chosen critic for Liv-ex’s ‘Fair Value’ methodology.
Based on the chart above, buyers looking for value in back vintages might want to consider the 2016 vintage. The wine received 95 points from Neal Martin (Vinous), making it the highest-scoring Lafon-Rochet of the last decade, and is available at a discount of 18.3% to today’s release.
The 2018, 2019 and 2020 vintages all received 93 points from the critic (similar to the 2022), but are available at discounts of 24.1%, 31.0% and 27.0% to today’s release respectively.
Our Bordeaux En Primeur 2022 page contains everything you need to know about this year’s campaign. You can also sign up for our daily En Primeur email alerts using the form below.
Liv-ex analysis is drawn from the world’s most comprehensive database of fine wine prices. The data reflects the real-time activity of Liv-ex’s 620+ merchant members from across the globe. Together they represent the largest pool of liquidity in the world – currently £100m of bids and offers across 16,000 wines.
