Is anybody here drinking Lafite?

A friend told me recently that I have drunk my last bottle of Chateau Lafite from my own collection. He is right, I have been selling or trading my bottles for multiple bottles of wine I enjoy just as much. Is anybody actually drinking the stuff?

Sold my 2 remaining bottles back in December. I thanked the buyer (whomever he/she may be) in my nightly bedside prayers.

Sold mine. Been waiting for the bug to spread to Duhart or Mouton so I can sell those too.

Drank my last one in 1987.

I’ve never tasted Lafite, but have one bottle.
Doubt I’d like it half as much as the Grand Cru burgs I could receive for it in trade.
But, would be nice to at least taste one once.
Dilemma.

Yes, and happy to do it. Last was December, we had a 1995 that was wonderful - have a few left. Have a case of 1996 that we dip into on the boys’ birthday ($249 on release). Also have some 1999 in the cellar. Paid around $100 a bottle. Have 3 left. I post my notes on my blog www.winemusings.com (I should change the url to notanotherwineblog.com)

I have just drunk two days ago Lafite 1969 with my son who was born in 1969.
Despite the year, it was an excellent wine.
I had bought 24 halves of 1969 and for the moment, 2/3 have been drunk. And except one or two, all were perfect.
An amazing performance for this format and this year. Bought probably around 50 FF (15 €) per half.

Last year, we made a dinner with friends which was something completely unique.

See the pictures http://www.academiedesvinsanciens.org/archives/2349-journee-memorable-les-photos.html

Imagine the fact that two friends arrived with :
1844 Lafite
1858 Lafite

They offered us a significant number of hundreds of thousands dollars !!!

They knew of course the value of what they offered (see the pictures). I think I would not be able, NOW, to do so, even if I have some bottles of the 19th century of Lafite.

The Lafite that I have drunk in 2010, including the two above :

Château Lafite-Rothschild 1928
Château Lafite Rothschild 1er GCC Pauillac 1962
Château Lafite Rothschild 1990
Château Lafite 1900
Château Lafite Rothschild 1844
Château Lafite Rothschild 1858
Château Lafite-Rothschild 1er Grand Cru Classé de Pauillac magnum 1922
Château Lafite-Rothschild 1943
Château Lafite-Rothschild 1970

Kind of a shame. I have about fifteen bottles, including '86. The wines have essentially become too expensive to drink. I would certainly like to drink them, but I don’t think that any wine is worth more than $2000 per bottle (if it is, I am not willing to pay it). I am not forced to sell them now (and they are being stored in pristine fashion), although I should probably start contemplating it.

Colin

Nope.
Sold my last 82 and all my 00 Carraude for a sick price.It’s just crazy…but I’ll take it.

I drunk all my twelve 1999 Carruades in 2003-2005. Now I wish I didn’t. They were good wines, and I enjoyed drinking them. They were also worth the 15-20 euro/bottle that I paid for them. But with today’s prices… (I would have sold all of them)

I did have one bottle of Lafite 1986, and was glad that I drunk it. But it’s been a couple of years ago. Again, with today’s prices, I doubt that I would have opened the bottle…

Just drunk a 1998 Leoville-Barton, for about 50 euro. I doubt that a Lafite could really be 20+ times better than that!

I have never tasted Lafite and I have a single bottle of '01 that will more than likely get sold/traded for wines Im sure I would enjoy much more (Piedmont, Burgundy, N Rhone).

Only given up on Lafite? You lucky man.

I’ve sort of given up on drinking anything in my cellar. Haven’t opened a bottle for a couple of months.

Have you seen the catalog for the HDH auction March 19? There are about 400 lots, all Lafite. Well, maybe a couple lots are Carruades.

My thought was… this is a way to pick up are large number of small consignments, and not have it look out-of-place the way small consignments do in a normal auction catalog.

Not recently! I have some bottles up for auction at the moment. I opened a '99 Carruades last year, thinking that it wouldn’t be worth sending to auction, and I was surprised at how good it was. I figured maybe even worth over $100. Later I saw the auction prices!

I found a note I had written on the '90 Carruades, from a strong vintage, but a rather light and unimpressive wine. That made me feel a little guilty because I had sent my last three into an auction thinking that they should be excellent, having forgotten that initial taste years earlier. Reading Parker, it appears that '96 was the first “good” Carruades in recent times.

But there are a couple of Lafites I will probably drink in the future…read this…

Some years ago, in 2004 to be exact, I was going through some older Bordeaux and noticed that some bottles were developing fill levels just below the neck. So, having a good corking tool and some high grade corks left over from my winemaking experiments, I decided to top the bottles up and re-cork them, so I wouldn’t have to worry about them for another 20 years! What a smart idea! One bottle of '70 Latour, a bottle of '78 Margaux, an '82 Mouton, and yeah, those two '82 Lafites! They all look absolutely perfect now, complete with fancy red metallic heat-shrink capsules. The only problem is the capsules and corks don’t say “Lafite” anywhere! But TRUST ME! They’re the real thing! Just make the check out to “cash” if you don’t mind…

No, not out of my own stock in some years. Have a good bit and decided to consign it, but just haven’t been motivated to do it yet. I’ve had domestic offers but just no comparison of course. Haven’t looked at WMJ data in a while…who is leading the results pack on HK auctions now?

I have a few 88’s, 98’s and 02’s. Probably drank my last Lafite bottle about 5 years ago. Very likely will be selling what I have left. Not looking for the cash – just can’t seem to justify drinking them given what they’re worth these days.

I have a few bottles of 00 Carruades that I am thinking of selling. How did you sell them?

PM sent

I am what one would call “judicious”. Had a little '96, '00 and '05 left, plus a mag of '03. Sent all of it packing, but retained a single bottle: the 1959. I may be greedy, but I am not stupid! And I will be drinking halves of Latour, Haut-Brion and Margaux all the way to the bank!

I would agree with that.Lafite I no longer hoard,but I don’t let go of the aformentioned other 3,especially HB.