Carruades de Lafite - Pauillac 2019

Wine Advocate

92-94 / 100

byLisa Perrotti-Brownthe7/15/2020

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!

Bettane & Desseauve

93-94 / 100

by Bettane & Desseauvethe7/3/2020

16,5-17

Vinous

92-94 / 100

byAntonio Gallonithe6/18/2020

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.

Jeb DUNNUCK

94-96 / 100

byJeb Dunnuckthe6/18/2020

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.

Vinous

91-93 / 100

byNeal Martinthe6/16/2020

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.

The Wine Cellar Insider

93-95 / 100

byJeff Levethe6/10/2020

Flowers, cocoa, earth, cherries and tobacco leaf on the nose. The medium-bodied wine is refined, elegant and lifted, with a focus on the sweetness and purity in the fruits. Bright, polished, and classic in nature, this is a definitive look at the stylings of Lafite Rothschild. The wine was made from blending 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. 93-95 Pts

Jamessuckling.com

95-96 / 100

byJames Sucklingthe6/4/2020

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.

Decanter.com

93 / 100

byJane Ansonthe6/4/2020

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. Drinking Window 2025 - 2040