2019 Carruades de Lafite

96 POINTS

James Suckling

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.

96 POINTS

James Suckling

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.

93 POINTS

Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW - Wine Advocate

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!

93 POINTS

Jane Anson - Decanter Magazine

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.

93 POINTS

Antonio Galloni MW - Vinous

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.

93 POINTS

Antonio Galloni MW - Vinous

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.

92 POINTS

Neal Martin - Vinous

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.