Carruades de Lafite 2016 - 1.5 Litre

Chateau Lafite Rothschild’s second wine, Carruades de Lafite presents similar characteristics to the Grand Vin, but with its own personality linked to a higher proportion of Merlot and to specific plots that are used to produce Carruades. The name comes from the Carruades plateau, a group of plots acquired in 1845 just next to the vines on the Chateau hilltop.

Blend: 49% Merlot, 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot

94 Points - Jeb Dunnuck     While few people get excited about second wines, the reality today is that the top estates are making such a strict selection that their second wines are unquestionably equivalent to the grand vins of a few decades ago. Case in point: the 2016 Carruades de Lafite, a brilliant wine that stands up with the top wines in Pauillac. Offering a medium to full-bodied, seamless, incredibly pure style as well as classy black cherry fruits, graphite, licorice, and dried earth, it’s impeccably balanced, has no hard edges, and is already hard to resist. Drink it any time over the coming 20-25 years.

93 Points - James Suckling     Sweet-tobacco and berry aromas here with fresh herbs, too. Full-bodied, dense and chewy with a savoury edge, bright acidity and a long, flavourful finish. Iron and graphite at the finish with Indian ink. Second wine of Château Lafite Rothschild. Try after 2022.