Carruades de Lafite - Château Lafite Rothschild - Pauillac 2016 6b11bd6ba9341f0271941e7df664d056

Yvesbeck.wine

93 / 100

byYves Beckthe3/20/2019

Pourpre aux reflets violets. Fruits, fraîcheur et terroir, voici la manière avec laquelle on peut rationnellement résumer le nez. Dans une approche plus analytique, on relèvera d'agréables notes de cassis et de mûres. Attaque friande et crémeuse. C'est la finesse qui marque le palais de Carruades. Tous les éléments sont présents et assurent un bon équilibre. Les tannins sont bien intégrés et la structure confère de la fraîcheur sans manquer de soutenir l'expression aromatique. Un vin que l'on pourra déjà savourer dans sa jeunesse mais qui a néanmoins du potentiel. Caractère ample et épanoui. 2022-2036 93/100

Jeb DUNNUCK

94 / 100

byJeb Dunnuckthe3/1/2019

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.

Wine Spectator

93 / 100

byJames Molesworththe2/5/2019

This has a dark profile, with gently steeped black currant and plum fruit, liberally inlaid with smoldering charcoal, tobacco and humus notes. Offers a bright iron accent on the finish, along with black tea and dried anise details. A charcoal dust texture lingers in the end. Best from 2023 through 2035. 20,000 cases made.  –JM

Jamessuckling.com

93 / 100

byJames Sucklingthe2/4/2019

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

Vinous

90 / 100

byNeal Martinthe1/24/2019

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.

Vinous

92 / 100

byAntonio Gallonithe1/21/2019

The 2016 Carruades de Lafite is soft, gentle and caressing, with silky tannins and a sweet, perfumed bouquet that gives the wine its sensual, inviting personality. Medium in body and gracious, the Carruades will be easy to drink and enjoy upon release. Sw red cherry, plum, spice and floral notes are all laced together in this exquisite Pauillac. In 2016, the Carruades has a bit more Merlot than is typically the case.

Wine Advocate

92 / 100

byLisa Perrotti-Brownthe11/30/2018

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.

Decanter.com

91 / 100

byJane Ansonthe10/26/2018

WeinWisser

17 / 20

the5/22/2017

44 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 49 % Merlot, 5 % Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot. Purpurgranat mit violettem Rand. Dichtes, blaubeeriges Bouquet mit erkaltetem Früchtetee und Cassis, dahinter Kirschtabak und Rosenholz. Ammittleren Gaumen mit würzigem Extrakt und feinspröder Textur, die im langen Finale mit rotbeeriger Frucht und errlicher Mineralik begleitet wird. Back to classic!

Bettane & Desseauve

95-96 / 100

by Bettane & Desseauvethe5/3/2017

En net progrès sur les millésimes précédents, avec une vraie finesse aromatique et un corps plus « Pauillac », mais pas encore au niveau des tous meilleurs seconds vins.

Wine Advocate

89-91 / 100

byNeal Martinthe5/2/2017

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

Jean-Marc QUARIN

15,5 / 20

byJean-Marc Quarinthe4/28/2017

Vin fruité et agréable de corps et de longueur moyens avec une tannicité un peu simple dans la finale.

The Wine Cellar Insider

91-93 / 100

byJeff Levethe4/27/2017

The wine was made from a blend of 49% Merlot, 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 0.5% Cabernet Franc and 0.2% Petit Verdot, producing a showcase for sweet, ripe fruits, freshness with elegant tannins in a forward style. 

Vinous

89-92 / 100

byAntonio Gallonithe4/26/2017

The 2016 Carruades de Lafite is a sexy wine. Inviting scents of ripe black cherry, plum, smoke, torrefaction and mocha set the stage nicely. Deep and textured on the palate, yet also light on its feet, the 2016 exhibits terrific balance and striking purity in its fruit. I especially like the way the fruit fans out to cover every inch of the palate on the finish. This is impressive stuff.

matthewjukes.com

17,5 / 20

byMatthew Jukesthe4/25/2017

(49 Merlot, 44 Cabernet Sauvignon, 5 Cabernet Franc, 2 Petit Verdot) Decent depth and some pungent red fruit highlights mean that this is a very pure and lifted wine with superb freshness and vivacity. It is not as profound as I would have hoped, with some jammy notes disrupting the flow of fruit, but it is going to be a crowd-pleaser early in its life. 17.5

Jancis Robinson

16,5 / 20

byJancis Robinsonthe4/21/2017

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

Wine Enthusiast

93-95 / 100

byRoger Vossthe4/19/2017

Barrel Sample. This second wine of Lafite is 25% of their production. Velvety tannins coalesce with the black plum and berry fruits. It is juicy and perfumed, with notes of spice and dark fruits as well as intense final acidity. It should age well over the medium term.

Jamessuckling.com

94-95 / 100

byJames Sucklingthe4/5/2017

The most tannic and textured Carruades ever. Full-bodied, big and powerful. Very, very long. New style?