This is very classically structured with a palate that starts off slowly. Full-bodied and chewy with a soft, creamy texture and a long finish. Savory. A touch austere. 52% cabernet sauvignon, 42% merlot and 3% cabernet franc, the rest petit verdot.

Some candy floss notes, ripe fruit, almost sweet and perfumed, scented cherry drop sweets on the nose. I was expecting something more plush on the palate but this is just so fun with a lovely bouncy palate, cushioned and bright. Stunning sharp and bright bramble fruit flavours are given grip from the liquorice-laced tannins but overall this has so much joy, energy and character. A strong spiced backbone gives the structure with excellent freshness and tension for ageing but it's also saying 'look how fun and drinkable I am right now'. An excellent Carruades.

Flowers, cedar, tobacco, spice, exuberant black raspberries, kirsch and plums open the perfume. Medium-bodied, elegant, fresh and lifted on the nose and palate, this is good example of a baby Lafite in its youth. The finish is all about its silky elegance and purity of fruit. The wine is a blend of 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. Tasted May 2021

This is an enjoyable Carruades, with confident weight and spice, barely out of its En Primeur character. Black cherry and cassis notes grip on through the palate, with liqourice, tobacco and espresso, and a creamy mid palate gives a welcoming kick. Eric Kohler technical director, 20% new oak.

(52% CS, 42% M, 3% CF, 3% PV)
Black-fruit ripe and dense to smell, very mineral, too; concentrated and vital, finely firm in tannin, tauter structured than Duhart-Milon; both sweet and crisply ripe in flavor, close-knit, long to taste, dense, linear, long, and complex to taste, a second wine of real class and poise with, here too, beautifully integrated tannins and acidity; an almost fleshy impression and with lovely, gentle, fragrant length. A particularly successful Carruades. Very fine, very “Lafite.” 2030–50+.

A baby Lafite with its lead pencil and cassis aromatics as well as beautiful elegance, the 2020 Carruades De Lafite is medium-bodied and has a precise, elegant mouthfeel, beautiful tannins, and a great finish. As with all the wines from this incredible château, its balance and elegance are what set it apart, and it's one of the finest second wines out there. The blend is 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, which is a classic blend for this cuvée.

The 2020 Carruades de Lafite is so expressive right out of the gate. Sage, mint, dried herbs, tobacco and incense grace the Carruades with gorgeous aromatic presence. A backbone of fine tannins lends energy and direction. Medium in body and impeccably refined, the 2020 Carruades is shaping up to be a gem.
Vinous.com

Drink Date
2026 - 2042

Reviewed by Lisa Perrotti-Brown

Deep purple-black in color, the 2020 Carruades de Lafite, like its big sibling, is a little youthfully shy to begin, soon unfurling to offer notes of Morello cherries, raspberry leaves, baked blackberries and spice box, plus suggestions of pencil lead, lavender and Provence herbs. The medium-bodied palate is chock-full of juicy black fruits, framed by velvety tannins and tons of freshness, finishing long and lifted. This 2020 is a blend of 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot.

A blend of 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot and the balance Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, the 2020 Carruades de Lafite offers up aromas of dark berries, cassis, cigar wrapper, violets and loamy soil. Medium to full-bodied, broad and fleshy, it's a rich, gourmand wine, some 20% of which was matured in tank.

The 2020 Carruades de Lafite is clean and precise on the nose, the undergrowth/autumn leaf scents permeating the predominantly black fruit, and light peppermint aromas unfurling with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins and a fine bead of acidity. Quite linear in style, particularly toward the finish, where it seems to not want to put a foot wrong. A Deuxième Vin that just needs to loosen its tie and let it all hang out a bit more.

vinous.com

52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot. Cask sample.
Intense colour. Fresh and zesty with plenty of sappy fruit. Red- and dark-berry fruit notes provide aromatic appeal. Hint of mint as well. Palate long and lithe but structured with fine but grainy tannin. Power but charm as well. (JL)52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot. Cask sample.
Intense colour. Fresh and zesty with plenty of sappy fruit. Red- and dark-berry fruit notes provide aromatic appeal. Hint of mint as well. Palate long and lithe but structured with fine but grainy tannin. Power but charm as well. (JL)

52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot. Cask sample. Intense colour. Fresh and zesty with plenty of sappy fruit. Red- and dark-berry fruit notes provide aromatic appeal. Hint of mint as well. Palate long and lithe but structured with fine but grainy tannin. Power but charm as well. (JL)

Tasted blind. Deep crimson. Smells of rich and spicy black fruit. Open and aromatic. Deliciously aromatic on the palate, the tannins compact and very fine, giving an elegant framework for the pure fruit. A bit dry on the finish. (JH)