Lafon Rochet's Tesseron Sees `Fantastic' 2018 Vintage

The 2018 vintage at Saint Estephe wine estate Chateau Lafon Rochet is looking set to be ``fantastic'' following exceptionally dry weather during the summer and through the harvest, according to director Basile Tesseron, whose family owns the property.

Chateau Lafon Rochet, Saint Estephe. Photo: Guy Collins

The harvest at the estate, which has 40 hectares (100 acres) under vine, ran from Sept. 24 to Oct. 13, an unusually protracted period as there was no pressure to pick in a hurry. ``For us that's long,'' he said at a tasting of the 2016 Bordeaux vintage in London Oct. 16 organized by the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux. ``There was no rot in grapes, we avoided dry tannins,'' he said. ``I'm impatient to taste, it has great potential.