This has understated elegance on the attack, confident and quietly brilliant with flavours of cassis, bilberry, hedgerow and a basket full of darkly brambled fruits alongside tobacco and menthol notes. Flavoursome, subtle and multi-faceted - this is still fresh and full of life. 2% Petit Verdot completes the blend. 10% new oak
Tasted by Jane Anson (at Bordeaux, 07 Sep 2020)
Part of Bordeaux 2005 second wines: Tasting six of the best

Tasted single blind at Southwold. This has a deep ripe plumy nose with good definition and freshness: cedar and blackberry, a tangible sense of mineralite but tightly-coiled. A dense weighty palate, great concentration and vibrant acidity, very focused, lithe, wonderful definition with a lifted cedar finish. No frills, but masterful winemaking is afoot here. Drink 2012-2025. Tasted January 2009.

Good deep red. Pungent aromas of currant, cherry skin, leather, graphite, olive and flowers. Suave, minerally and penetrating, with lovely energy and floral lift. Not at all a fleshy style but classic, vibrant and firmly built, finishing with excellent lift.

Has coffee and chocolate aromas, with hints of ripe fruit. Medium-bodied, with soft tannins and a fruity, plummy, milk chocolaty aftertaste. The second wine of Lafite Rothschild. Best after 2012.

A classic example of a second wine, the 2005 Carruades de Lafite reveals a dark ruby hue with some pink showing at the rim. The moderately intense nose of graphite, forest floor, and sweet black currant fruit is followed by a medium-bodied, elegant wine with light to moderate tannin. Drink it over the next 10-15 years.