In Saint-Estèphe, color is as much a signature as an address. Distinguishable by the golden yellow hue of its chartreuse – a legacy of Guy Tesseron’s vision in the 1960s – Château Lafon-Rochet embodies a visual singularity that doubles as a complex geological reality. With the 2022 vintage, this Fourth Grand Cru Classé (1855), whose origins date back to the 16th century, enters a new chapter in its history. Now under the Lorenzetti family since December 2021, integrating the Vignobles Cruse-Lorenzetti entity, the estate maintains its aesthetic course while refining its viticultural precision.
The year 2022, marked by climatic extremes, tested the resilience of this 45-hectare single-holding terroir. While the mild winter and early budburst suggested a serene year, the threat of frost in April and a violent storm on June 20 reminded us of the fragility of natural balances. . This is where the dual nature of Lafon-Rochet’s soils plays its regulating role: the gravelly hilltops provide drainage, while the blue clays, characteristic of the site, retain the coolness needed to get through a hot, dry summer.. This thermal inertia allowed the grapes to ripen slowly, resulting in a staggered harvest from September 12 to 27..
In the glass, this contrasting climatology translates into a blend dominated by 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, complemented by 31% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc. Vinified in concrete and stainless steel vats before a minimum of 12 months’ barrel ageing, the vintage is distinguished by a texture that the estate describes as “unctuous and suave”. . Far from the austerity sometimes associated with the appellation’s wines in their youth, this 2022 offers a structure where dense fruit coexists with lively tension, a direct result of the cool September nights..
This vintage is also part of a precise environmental trajectory. Committed to an agroecology project since 2019 to stimulate biodiversity, with this wine the estate is paving the way for its organic certification, officially enacted for the 2024 vintage. Under the recent management of Vincent Bache-Gabrielsen and the presidency of Félix Pariente-Lorenzetti, Lafon-Rochet is asserting an ambition: that of bringing the historic power of its classification into dialogue with the contemporary demands of sustainable viticulture.
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