Chateau Lafon Rochet St. Estephe, Bordeaux, Complete Guide

Learn everything about Chateau Lafon Rochet St. Estephe Fourth Growth, with wine tasting notes and wine with food pairing tips. Learn about the best vintages, the history of the property, information on the vineyards, and winemaking. If you want to read about other Bordeaux wine producers: Links to all Bordeaux Wine Producer Profiles

Chateau Lafon Rochet History, Overview

What we know of today as Chateau Lafon Rochet in St. Estephe, dates back to the middle of the 17th century. The estate was founded In 1650, when Antoinette de Guillemotte, brought the land of Rochette as her dowry to her husband, Pierre de Lafon.

Shortly after they were married, following the custom of the day, they renamed the estate, using their last name, coupled with the previous name of the property, Chateau Rochet, and Chateau Lafon Rochet was born.

While many Bordeaux vineyards were confiscated during the French Revolution, that did not happen to Lafon Rochet. In fact, the Left Bank estate remained the property of the same family for more than two centuries.

Chateau Lafon Rochet the Modern Age

Everything changed at Chateau Lafon Rochet in 1959 when Guy Tesseron purchased the estate. The property needed extensive work as it had fallen into a dilapidated state. The Tesseron family, under the direction of Guy Tesseron completely renovated Lafon Rochet from top to bottom.

This was something that had to be done as most of the original buildings were in such bad shape, they could no longer be used. The vineyard also needed extensive replanting. At the time of the purchase, the vineyard was only 17 hectares.

Through replanting and subsequent purchases, the estate has more than doubled in size since the Tesseron family took control of the property. That marked the start of the modern era for Chateau Lafon Rochet.

Tesseron had his work cut out for him at his Medoc property in the 1960s. The vineyards were as we mentioned in poor shape.

Much of the land needed to be replanted in part, but the grape varieties that already existed in the vineyards were planted in the wrong types of soils for their varietal. The Merlot was in the gravel and the Cabernets were in the clay.

That is still slowly being corrected today, although currently, almost everything is as it should be. This explains why the wines are so much better today.

Because the wine-making facilities had also become dilapidated under the previous owners, Guy Tesseron was forced to build all-new wine-making facilities.

Even the Chateau had to be replaced! In fact, Chateau Lafon Rochet is the only 1855 Classified growth with a new chateau that was constructed in the 20th century!

In 1999, after being in the Bordeaux wine trade for more than four decades, Michel Tesseron took over the property and decided to change the classic style of the 18th-century design that was created for the chateau. Michel Tesseron did it by adding some color to Lafon Rochet in 2000.

As you can see, the chateau of Lafon Rochet is now a bright, sunny, bold, Mediterranean shade of yellow. It’s an artistic statement according to Michel Tesseron.

At the same time, the labels of Chateau Lafon Rochet were also changed to showcase the new, artistic, sun-filled, yellow theme.

It was under the management of Basile Tesseron that Chateau Lafon Rochet was ushered into the modern age. Basile Tesseron started at the estate in 2007, after training with negociants. He speaks perfect English, with a subtle British accent. That is something he picked up while living in England.

Things changed in September 2021 when Chateau Lafon Rochet was sold to Jacky Lorenzetti. Jacky Lorenzetti is an experienced vineyard owner as he already owns neighboring Chateau Lilian Ladouys, also located in Saint Estephe as well as Chateau Pedesclaux in Pauillac and Chateau dIssan in Margaux. Emmanuelle Cruse will take over as the director of the estate.

Chateau Lafon Rochet Vineyards, Terroir, Grapes, Winemaking

The 41-hectare vineyard of Lafon Rochet is planted to 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot, and 2% Cabernet Franc. This shows a slight increase in their Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot plantings.

On average, the vines are kept at 37 years of age. However, the estate has old vines. Their oldest parcels have Merlot vines that were planted all the way back in 1938.

The vineyard is planted to a vine density that ranges from 8,500 to 10,000 vines per hectare. However, newer plantings are done at 9,000 vines per hectare.

As we mentioned previously, the vineyard of Lafon Rochet is in one large block that can be subdivided into 40 separate parcels. They have slopes and hills that rise to 26 meters in elevation.

The vineyard of Lafon Rochet is in almost one single, large parcel, which is unusual for the region, although the vineyard does make a few odd twists, turns, and angles to remain in its single block of vines.

They have 38 hectares under vine. The vineyard was slightly reduced in size as they sold 3 hectares of vines. Their terroir is mostly gravel, clay, sand, limestone, and marl soils. Their best parcels are located on the west side of the estate, where find a mix of deep gravel and clay.

Part of what makes their terroir unique is that some of the clay in their vineyards is the same type of hard, blue clay found in Pomerol at Petrus.

Chateau Lafon Rochet has good neighbors. They are ideally placed not far from Chateau Cos dEstournel, Chateau Cos Labory, and Chateau Lafite Rothschild in Pauillac. This places much of their vines in the southern part of the Saint Estephe appellation.

Lafon Rochet continues to experiment with various farming techniques. Over time they have tried using organic farming on at least 10% of their vineyards. But the results were not what they were hoping for.

Chateau Lafon Rochet Wine Making

In 2015, Lafon Rochet completed a renovation and renovation of their cellars and vat rooms. This was a much-needed improvement, as the cellars were more than 35 years old.

The biggest change was to bring in all-new, gleaming, stainless steel tanks and concrete vats. The design and concrete vats were created by the same architect that designed the new cellars at Chateau Cheval Blanc, Christian de Portzamparc.

Where previously, the wine was vinified in all stainless steel, today, that takes place in stainless steel and cement.

The new cement tanks at Lafon Rochet are stunningly beautiful to see, as well as being incredibly smooth to touch.

To more precisely vinify the 40 parcels, the estate now has a total of 42 vats that are a combination of 18 gleaming stainless steel tanks that range in size from 50 hectoliters up to 100 hectoliters and 24 concrete vats in a wide myriad of different shapes and sizes that go from as small as 50 hectoliters up to 190 hectoliters.

70% of the vinification now takes place in their new, concrete tanks, which is where the Cabernet Sauvignon is fermented. The remainder of the grape varieties, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot are vinified in stainless steel.

Malolactic fermentation takes place in a combination of 50% in new oak barrels and the remaining 50% of the wine sees malolactic fermentation in tanks or vats.

The wine of Chateau Lafon Rochet is then aged in 55% new, French oak barrels for 9 months before the wine is moved to one-year-old barrels, where it remains for an additional 9 months of aging before bottling.

The best vintages of Chateau Lafon Rochet are: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2010, 2009, 2005, 2003 and 2000.

In 2012, in a continuing effort to make even better wine, Lafon Rochet made two significant moves.

First, they hired the well-known consultant Jean-Claude Berrouet, who is best for his work at Petrus to help with the winemaking. They also used optical sorting technology for the first time.

Speaking of first’s, Lafon Rochet became the first Bordeaux chateau to take part in the Google Street View Program, which allows online viewers the chance to see the entire estate in 3D. However, that is not the only first for the estate.

At Chateau Lafon Rochet, they maintain a unique practice during the late winter months that combines wine with health. From November until March, the owner, Michel Tesseron, joins members of his team twice a week for 20 minutes of Tai Chi in their cellars.

On average, close to 10,000 cases of Chateau Lafon Rochet are produced each vintage. There are 2 second wines, Les Pelerins de Lafon Rochet and Les Secrets de Lafon Rochet. While the two-second wines are identical, Les Secrets de Lafon Rochet is produced exclusively for export.

When to Drink Chateau Lafon Rochet, Anticipated Maturity, Decanting Time

Chateau Lafon Rochet can be enjoyed somewhat early. However, the wine is often better with at least a few years of bottle age. Of course, that can vary slightly, depending on the vintage.

Chateau Lafon Rochet is usually best enjoyed in the first 10-25 years of life. Young vintages can be decanted for 1-3 hours. This allows the wine to soften and open its perfume. Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment.

Serving Chateau Lafon Rochet with Wine, Food, Pairing Tips

Chateau Lafon Rochet is best served at 15.5 degrees Celsius, 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The cool, almost cellar temperature gives the wine more freshness and lift.

Lafon Rochet is best served with all types of classic meat dishes, veal, pork, beef, lamb, duck, game, roast chicken, roasted, braised, and grilled dishes. Lafon Rochet is also quite good with Asian dishes, hearty fish courses like tuna, mushrooms, and pasta.

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