Photo courtesy of Chateau Lafon-Rochet

The Yellow Chateau
Plus A Petrus Touch

Chateau Lafon-Rochet has long been one of the great buys of St. Estephe, but in recent years the price to quality ratio has only increased thanks to the direction of Basile Tesseron. 

The Tesseron family purchased Lafon-Rochet in 1960, and Basile Tesseron joined the estate in 2007, taking the reins in 2014 from his father Michel. Basile, of course, has enjoyed a bevy of mentors over the years beyond his father Michel, including his uncle Alfred Tesseron of Chateau Pontet-Canet and Jean-Claude Berrouet, the retired winemaker of Petrus and JP Moueix. In the 2019 and 2020 Vintages, Berrouet was officially the property’s consultant working closely with Tesseron on the final blend.

Chateau Lafon-Rochet is one of the few Bordeaux properties where the majority of the vineyard is in one large parcel. Located just north of Chateau Lafite-Rothschild and Cos d’Estournel, Lafon-Rochet sits upon a bed of clay, where the vineyard is planted to 57% Cabernet Sauvignon and 37% Merlot. The clay of course dictates the necessity to plant Merlot, but Lafon-Rochet, unlike its other St. Estephe peers, is unique in fact due to possessing a noted amount of the rare blue clay that comprises the finest vineyards of Pomerol, such as Petrus. It is no wonder that Michel and Basile Tesseron leapt at the opportunity to have Berrouet consult for Lafon-Rochet since his retirement in Pomerol. The collaboration has turned out exceptional wines since 2015, paving the way for the back to back success of 2019 and 2020.

In 2021, the Tesseron family sold Lafon-Rochet to Jacky Lorenzetti, owner of nearby Pedesclaux and Lilian Ladouys. 2021 is the last vintage made by Tesseron and his team as Emmanuel Cruse, who manages Lorenzetti’s estates, took over managing the property is 2022. While Cruse and his team are doing exceptional work as well at Lafon-Rochet, there is something extra special about 2019 and 2020 knowing the heights that Tesseron was able to achieve and the direction in which he took the property. 

These are wines of sumptuous textures, built upon layers and nuances of fruit and earth that are graceful and medium-body. The rusticity of the past is long gone, but the aging curve and reliability factor of Lafon-Rochet is stronger than ever.

Cheers,
Jeremy