| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > Pauillac |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
The Second wine of Chateau Lafite. Thanks to the fact that the label design is very similar to that of Lafite itself, demand for Carruades from China is enormous. The consumer usually finds much better value for money from the same producer's Duhart Milon.
2016 Carruades de Lafite is a blend of 49% Merlot, 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot and has a deep garnet color. It needs a little swirling to release notes of warm blackcurrants, blackberry preserves, and kirsch, followed by hints of cast iron pan, cardamom, and mossy tree bark. Medium-bodied, the palate has a fleshy core of ripe black fruits with fine-grained tannins and seamless freshness, finishing with lovely purity.
The 2016 Carruades de Lafite has a richer, more opulent bouquet compared to its peers, featuring intense blackberry, boysenberry and cassis fruit, if perhaps not displaying the precision of other Pauillacs. The medium-bodied palate is not quite as luxurious as the aromatics, displaying supple tannins and a slightly powdery texture. There’s good depth here and fine acidity, plus plenty of black pepper toward the finish. Fine. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting. 2021 - 2036
The most tannic and textured Carruades ever. Full-bodied, big and powerful. Very, very long. New style?
This is a rich, deep, elegant and well structured Carruades, clearly better than the 2015 and 2014, a great success in this vintage. Lafite have increased the percentage of third wine, so in this vintage 35% of the production went into Carruades and 40% into the grand vin. The blend is 49% Merlot, 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot.
Tasted blind. Quite a burly nose. Big and beefy. Robust. Chunky. Very dry on the end. Sincere rather than charming. Lots packed in here. Wait awhile! Exciting.
Drink 2027 – 2047
The Second wine of Chateau Lafite. Thanks to the fact that the label design is very similar to that of Lafite itself, demand for Carruades from China is enormous. The consumer usually finds much better value for money from the same producer's Duhart Milon. 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 49% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot in 2016. Medium depth in colour, with a cool nose of camphor, mint, cherries and plums. The palate is silky and smooth, and should prove very approachable with light levels of tannin. Forward, polished, and fruity, with just a hint of spice and a medium length, elegant, floral finish.
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. 2019 - 2044.
The nose has fresh fruits quite firm the palate starts with concentrated flavours rich black cherry and sloe. Rich and ripe in the middle the tannins wrapped round by rich fruit. Sweet at the back the sweet fruit is underpinned and balanced by freshness but it tends to dry on the finish. 2025-36
The oak is still a little marked on this second wine, but that’s forgivable in a six-month-old sample. Like the Grand Vin, it’s a fine, graceful, elegant claret with notes of blackcurrant leaf and cigar box, filigree tannins and a tangy, palate-cleansing finish. 2022-30
A blend of 49% Merlot, 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, the deep garnet-purple colored 2016 Carruades de Lafite opens with expressive baked plums, Morello cherries and blackcurrant cordial scents with touches of stewed tea, bay leaves and tilled soil plus a waft of tree bark. Medium-bodied with a great mid-palate core of red and black fruits, it has a solid, grainy frame and compelling freshness, finishing long and minerally. 2019 - 2034
The 2016 Carruades de Lafite contains more Merlot than Cabernet Sauvignon. It has a tightly wound bouquet featuring tightly coiled black fruit and hints of brine and sea spray. I appreciate the aromatics, but it needs a little more intensity. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin. This is very well balanced, with gentle grip, and very pure in the mouth, offering blackberry, bilberry and a touch of white pepper toward the quite persistent finish. Very fine. Drink 2021-2036
The 2016 Carruades de Lafite is a blend of 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 49% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot this year that matured in around 20-25% new oak. Eric Kohler told me that they now practice more selection for the Carruades and in this respect, the great fruit concentration means that he has just tweaked the level of new oak upwards. It has an attractive bouquet with smoke and tobacco infused black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp tannin. This is a linear and conservative Carruades, one without the frills, almost economical but that is not necessarily a bad thing. It is fresh and focused, demonstrating more ripeness than previous vintages, and has a little more length. Drink it over the next decade. Drink 2020 - 2035.
There's a putty note on the nose. Neat, restrained, rather tight nose and a tad mean on the end. Just as there's a big gap between Petit Mouton and the grand vin, so there seems to be between Carruades and Lafite. Drying tannins on the end. Seems to be a lack of phenolic ripeness towards the end of the palate experience even though it starts out pretty ripe and round.
Drink 2024-2038
