Carruades de Lafite (2nd wine of Ch Lafite) 2019

Pauillac, Second wine

Units	Size	Case size	GBP Price:	Quantities	Buy
12	75cl Bottle	Case 6	£950 per Case	Cases	On allocation	[Add to shopping basket]

Tasting Notes
The 2019 Carruades de Lafite has more red fruit on the nose, tertiary scents and touches of tobacco, harmonious. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins, moderate depth, not complex and in fact, just a little monotone on the finish. Maybe this is entering a dumb phase? Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting. Score: 88 Neal Martin, Vinous.com 01 February 2023
The 2019 Carruades de Lafite, which has the lowest proportion of Merlot in the blend to date, has a pretty, pure, mineral-driven bouquet of shimmering red fruit, crushed strawberry and cranberry. Touches of pressed iris flower emerge with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent ripe tannins and fine tension, maybe not quite as luxuriant as it was out of barrel, but it has gained more tension and precision on the finish. Graphite lingers on the aftertaste. Excellent. Score: 92 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2025 - 2045 01 February 2022
The 2019 Carruades de Lafite was picked right up until 7 October in order to obtain the fleshiness from the Merlots, which represent 27% of the blend, much lower than previous years. It is raised in 30% new oak. This is certainly a fuller and more complete bouquet than I have discerned in previous Carruades with ample red berry fruit, sous-bois and light sea spray aromas - more refined and detailed than expected. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins that impart a creamy texture. This is a luxuriant Deuxième Vin from Lafite-Rothschild, more sensual with vivid red cherries and cranberry fruit laced with white pepper towards the finish, then a tang of graphite that lingers on the aftertaste. Best Carruades ever? Probably. Score: 91 - 93 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2024-2044 16 June 2020
The 2019 Carruades de Lafite was picked right up until 7 October in order to obtain the fleshiness from the Merlots, which represent 27% of the blend, much lower than previous years. It is raised in 30% new oak. This is certainly a fuller and more complete bouquet than I have discerned in previous Carruades with ample red berry fruit, sous-bois and light sea spray aromas - more refined and detailed than expected. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins that impart a creamy texture. This is a luxuriant Deuxième Vin from Lafite-Rothschild, more sensual with vivid red cherries and cranberry fruit laced with white pepper towards the finish, then a tang of graphite that lingers on the aftertaste. Best Carruades ever? Probably. Score: 91 - 93 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2024-2044 01 June 2020
The 2019 Carruades de Lafite is rich and expansive, bursting with aromas of ripe berries, violets, spice box, cedar and cassis. Medium to full-bodied, ample and fleshy, it's broad and generous, with a more exotic, extravagant profile than the grand vin but also levels of concentration and character that exceed what was the case a decade ago. In recent years, Lafite has actually ripped up parcels that routinely never made it into the grand vin—and the grand vin now includes more and more Cabernet Sauvignon. Even if Carruades now contains less Merlot than was historically the case (27% in 2019), I suspect it's benefiting from the inclusion of Merlot that would have formerly made it into the assemblage of Lafite itself. Score: 92 William Kelley, Vinous.com Maturity: 2025 - 2045 07 April 2022
The 2019 Carruades de Lafite is a powerhouse that shows little of the radiance it did as a younger wine. That should not be an issue in time. The Cabernet is the highest it has ever been here, at 73%, and that seems to be especially evident today, certainly moreso than it was two years ago. Savory and dense, with tons of power, the 2019 Carruades has quite a bit to offer, for those who can wait. Score: 93 Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com Maturity: 2025 - 2039 01 February 2022
The 2019 Carruades de Lafite is sexy, open knit and wonderfully inviting, with all of the seductiveness of the vintage on display. Ripe red cherry, red plum, rose petal, mint and spice are lifted by the savory intensity of the Cabernets, which at 73% are the highest ever for Carruades. Score: 92 - 94 Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com 18 June 2020
The 2019 Carruades de Lafite is sexy, open knit and wonderfully inviting, with all of the seductiveness of the vintage on display. Ripe red cherry, red plum, rose petal, mint and spice are lifted by the savory intensity of the Cabernets, which at 73% are the highest ever for Carruades. Technical Director Eric Kohler describes 2019 as an easier vintage than 2018, a year that saw quite a bit of disease pressure and extremes of temperature. Kohler added that while 2019 was hot, it was consistently hot, and therefore the vines adapted to the conditions as opposed to being shocked by sudden changes. Yields were a very classic 36-40 hectoliters per hectare, depending on the property. Cuvaison was about three weeks, with gentle extractions. As always one of the signatures at Lafite is the use of a portion of press lots in the final blends. Score: 92 - 94 Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com 01 June 2020
This is a beautiful Carraudes with currant, sweet-tobacco and wet-earth aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied with a dense center-palate and tight, polished tannins. Fresh, with tension. Reminds me of the 1995 Lafite. This is so Lafite in character. It shows so much cabernet sauvignon character. It’s 68% cabernet sauvignon, 27% merlot and the rest cabernet franc. Try after 2026. Score: 96 James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com Maturity: 2026+ 12 January 2022
The purity of fruit is so enticing here with strawberries, flowers, lavender and currants. Black earth, too. Some stone and cement. It’s full-bodied with firm, fine tannins. It shows so much cabernet sauvignon character. It’s 68% cabernet sauvignon, 27% merlot and the rest cabernet franc. Score: 95 - 96 James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com 28 May 2020
One of the more concentrated Carruades, with the highest percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon to date, packed with powerful dark plum and blackcurrant fruits, pencil lead and slate. Knitted down, sculpted tannins, there is austerity even rigidity to the structure, but it has laid on weight and depth over ageing. This is a Carruades with a sense of occasion and will need time in bottle. 38hl/h yield, 28% new oak. Score: 93 Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux Maturity: 2025-2040 12 January 2022
As with the Duhart, this is very Pauillac, with pencil lead and cedar notes, and the highest amount of Cabernet Sauvignon in Carruades to date. Subdued on the nose, but it opens up with a lovely floral character. It starts off with frank, autumnal fruit on the attack, majoring on brambly plum, with tannins that build up through the palate and do their job of tugging things back, putting on the brakes. A little more straight laced than the 2018, but one that you would be more than happy to own and to share. Has the drinkability that Lafite prides itself on. Score: 93 Jane Anson, Decanter.com Maturity: 2025-2040 25 May 2020
The second wine of the estate, the 2019 Carruades De Lafite offers a beautiful, Lafite-like bouquet of crème de cassis, cedar pencil, tobacco, and new leather. Gorgeously complex, medium to full-bodied, with silky tannins, and a great finish, it's a brilliant wine that would certainly do just fine in a blind lineup of Lafite. The blend is 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Franc. Score: 94 - 96 Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com 11 June 2020
The 2019 Carruades de Lafite is a blend of 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc, harvested from the 19th of September to the 7th of October. Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, it comes skipping out of the glass with bright, fresh notions of wild blueberries, ripe plums and redcurrant jelly plus hints of cinnamon stick, cumin seed, oolong tea and violets with a waft of black olives. Medium-bodied, the palate delivers loads of rich, ripe, spicy flavors with a soft texture of nicely rounded tannins and with the freshness in the background, finishing on a lingering allspice note. In a word: Yum! Score: 92 - 94 Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com 05 June 2020

Tasting Notes

The 2019 Carruades de Lafite has more red fruit on the nose, tertiary scents and touches of tobacco, harmonious. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins, moderate depth, not complex and in fact, just a little monotone on the finish. Maybe this is entering a dumb phase? Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting.

Score: 88

Neal Martin, Vinous.com 01 February 2023

The 2019 Carruades de Lafite, which has the lowest proportion of Merlot in the blend to date, has a pretty, pure, mineral-driven bouquet of shimmering red fruit, crushed strawberry and cranberry. Touches of pressed iris flower emerge with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent ripe tannins and fine tension, maybe not quite as luxuriant as it was out of barrel, but it has gained more tension and precision on the finish. Graphite lingers on the aftertaste. Excellent.

Score: 92

Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2025 - 2045 01 February 2022

The 2019 Carruades de Lafite was picked right up until 7 October in order to obtain the fleshiness from the Merlots, which represent 27% of the blend, much lower than previous years. It is raised in 30% new oak. This is certainly a fuller and more complete bouquet than I have discerned in previous Carruades with ample red berry fruit, sous-bois and light sea spray aromas - more refined and detailed than expected. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins that impart a creamy texture. This is a luxuriant Deuxième Vin from Lafite-Rothschild, more sensual with vivid red cherries and cranberry fruit laced with white pepper towards the finish, then a tang of graphite that lingers on the aftertaste. Best Carruades ever? Probably.

Score: 91 - 93

Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2024-2044 16 June 2020

Score: 91 - 93

Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2024-2044 01 June 2020

The 2019 Carruades de Lafite is rich and expansive, bursting with aromas of ripe berries, violets, spice box, cedar and cassis. Medium to full-bodied, ample and fleshy, it's broad and generous, with a more exotic, extravagant profile than the grand vin but also levels of concentration and character that exceed what was the case a decade ago. In recent years, Lafite has actually ripped up parcels that routinely never made it into the grand vin—and the grand vin now includes more and more Cabernet Sauvignon. Even if Carruades now contains less Merlot than was historically the case (27% in 2019), I suspect it's benefiting from the inclusion of Merlot that would have formerly made it into the assemblage of Lafite itself.

Score: 92

William Kelley, Vinous.com Maturity: 2025 - 2045 07 April 2022

The 2019 Carruades de Lafite is a powerhouse that shows little of the radiance it did as a younger wine. That should not be an issue in time. The Cabernet is the highest it has ever been here, at 73%, and that seems to be especially evident today, certainly moreso than it was two years ago. Savory and dense, with tons of power, the 2019 Carruades has quite a bit to offer, for those who can wait.

Score: 93

Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com Maturity: 2025 - 2039 01 February 2022

Score: 92 - 94

Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com 18 June 2020

The 2019 Carruades de Lafite is sexy, open knit and wonderfully inviting, with all of the seductiveness of the vintage on display. Ripe red cherry, red plum, rose petal, mint and spice are lifted by the savory intensity of the Cabernets, which at 73% are the highest ever for Carruades. Technical Director Eric Kohler describes 2019 as an easier vintage than 2018, a year that saw quite a bit of disease pressure and extremes of temperature. Kohler added that while 2019 was hot, it was consistently hot, and therefore the vines adapted to the conditions as opposed to being shocked by sudden changes. Yields were a very classic 36-40 hectoliters per hectare, depending on the property. Cuvaison was about three weeks, with gentle extractions. As always one of the signatures at Lafite is the use of a portion of press lots in the final blends.

Score: 92 - 94

Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com 01 June 2020

This is a beautiful Carraudes with currant, sweet-tobacco and wet-earth aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied with a dense center-palate and tight, polished tannins. Fresh, with tension. Reminds me of the 1995 Lafite. This is so Lafite in character. It shows so much cabernet sauvignon character. It’s 68% cabernet sauvignon, 27% merlot and the rest cabernet franc. Try after 2026.

Score: 96

James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com Maturity: 2026+ 12 January 2022

The purity of fruit is so enticing here with strawberries, flowers, lavender and currants. Black earth, too. Some stone and cement. It’s full-bodied with firm, fine tannins. It shows so much cabernet sauvignon character. It’s 68% cabernet sauvignon, 27% merlot and the rest cabernet franc.

Score: 95 - 96

James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com 28 May 2020

One of the more concentrated Carruades, with the highest percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon to date, packed with powerful dark plum and blackcurrant fruits, pencil lead and slate. Knitted down, sculpted tannins, there is austerity even rigidity to the structure, but it has laid on weight and depth over ageing. This is a Carruades with a sense of occasion and will need time in bottle. 38hl/h yield, 28% new oak.

Score: 93

Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux Maturity: 2025-2040 12 January 2022

As with the Duhart, this is very Pauillac, with pencil lead and cedar notes, and the highest amount of Cabernet Sauvignon in Carruades to date. Subdued on the nose, but it opens up with a lovely floral character. It starts off with frank, autumnal fruit on the attack, majoring on brambly plum, with tannins that build up through the palate and do their job of tugging things back, putting on the brakes. A little more straight laced than the 2018, but one that you would be more than happy to own and to share. Has the drinkability that Lafite prides itself on.

Score: 93

Jane Anson, Decanter.com Maturity: 2025-2040 25 May 2020

The second wine of the estate, the 2019 Carruades De Lafite offers a beautiful, Lafite-like bouquet of crème de cassis, cedar pencil, tobacco, and new leather. Gorgeously complex, medium to full-bodied, with silky tannins, and a great finish, it's a brilliant wine that would certainly do just fine in a blind lineup of Lafite. The blend is 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Franc.

Score: 94 - 96

Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com 11 June 2020

The 2019 Carruades de Lafite is a blend of 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc, harvested from the 19th of September to the 7th of October. Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, it comes skipping out of the glass with bright, fresh notions of wild blueberries, ripe plums and redcurrant jelly plus hints of cinnamon stick, cumin seed, oolong tea and violets with a waft of black olives. Medium-bodied, the palate delivers loads of rich, ripe, spicy flavors with a soft texture of nicely rounded tannins and with the freshness in the background, finishing on a lingering allspice note. In a word: Yum!

Score: 92 - 94

Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com 05 June 2020

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