The June 2026 Auction: Part 3
Swipe left for previous · Swipe right for next
1 / 2Lot 36
Estimate: $2,500
Mid shoulder, nicked, wrinkled, heavily corroded capsule, nicked, lightly torn, lightly scuffed, lightly bin soiled label, Sotheby's auction label on the bottle.
This auction has ended. Bidding is closed.
Collection name
Reviews
98NM
"This bottle of 1945 Lafite Rothschild comes from famous Graham Lyons cellar and was re-corked in 1983. It actually snowed at Lafite Rothschild on 1 May that year when the vines were already 15 days in advance, summer saw sporadic hail and harvest commenced on 13 September with berries at miraculously ripe levels. What a wine! Deeper in color than the 1949 Lafite Rothschild, the 1945 has a haunting bouquet, with vestiges of red fruit mixed with graphite, cold stone, crushed rose petals and briary. It gently builds in the glass and with aeration becomes ever more vivid and delineated. The palate is medium-bodied with filigree tannin, perfect acidity, pure and weightless, one of the most nuanced 1945s you will find. It is utterly sublime, never showing off and never trying too hard. It just shimmers with a pedigree that is undiminished after the passing decades. This might be one of the occasions where I prefer the Lafite Rothschild to the more ostentatious 1945 Latour. Tasted at the Lafite Rothschild dinner at Amuse Bouche in Hong Kong."
Region
Red
Country
Score
"This bottle of 1945 Lafite Rothschild comes from famous Graham Lyons cellar and was re-corked in 1983. It actually snowed at Lafite Rothschild on 1 May that year when the vines were already 15 days in advance, summer saw sporadic hail and harvest commenced on 13 September with berries at miraculously ripe levels. What a wine! Deeper in color than the 1949 Lafite Rothschild, the 1945 has a haunting bouquet, with vestiges of red fruit mixed with graphite, cold stone, crushed rose petals and briary. It gently builds in the glass and with aeration becomes ever more vivid and delineated. The palate is medium-bodied with filigree tannin, perfect acidity, pure and weightless, one of the most nuanced 1945s you will find. It is utterly sublime, never showing off and never trying too hard. It just shimmers with a pedigree that is undiminished after the passing decades. This might be one of the occasions where I prefer the Lafite Rothschild to the more ostentatious 1945 Latour. Tasted at the Lafite Rothschild dinner at Amuse Bouche in Hong Kong."
Have questions?
The world's most influential fine-wine producer and the benchmark for Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne and the Rhone. Its appellation (AOC) system codifies geography, grape and method, and its wines set the global standard for age-worthiness and terroir expression.
The world's largest fine-wine region, built around blends of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Divided by the Gironde estuary into the structured Left Bank and the plush, Merlot-led Right Bank, it is the historic benchmark for age-worthy claret and sweet Sauternes.
Home to three of Bordeaux's five First Growths, Pauillac is the Left Bank benchmark for powerful, structured Cabernet Sauvignon. Its wines are famed for cassis, cedar and graphite notes and exceptional aging potential.
Chateau Lafite Rothschild is a First Growth estate in Pauillac, Bordeaux, celebrated for exceptionally refined, elegant and ageworthy Cabernet-dominated wines, and among the most prestigious names in the world.
The world's most planted premium red grape, yielding deeply colored, tannic and structured wines with cassis, cedar and graphite notes. Firm tannins and acidity make it exceptionally age-worthy, whether as a varietal or the backbone of a Bordeaux blend.