Carruades de Lafite 2020

Professional Ratings

• 96 James Suckling
  So perfumed and subtle with roses, lavender, sage, and currants. Medium-bodied. So much Spanish cedar, cigar box, currants, fresh tobacco and spice. Classic Lafite character. 52% cabernet sauvignon, 42% merlot, 3% cabernet franc and 3% merlot. Better after 2028.
• 95 Decanter
  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.
• 95 Wine Enthusiast
  This is a very fine second wine. Its powerful tannins and rich structure show complexity as well as freshness and acidity. The wine's density promises much over the long term. Drink from 2027.
  Cellar Selection
• 93 Jeb Dunnuck
  This Château has made truly legendary wines in 2020. Looking at the vintage, the harvest occurred all in September, and their second wine, the 2020 Carruades De Lafite, is based on 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot that was raised in 90% new French oak. The alcohol hit 13% and the pH is 3.84. It's much more open and expressive than the Grand Vin and offers beautiful darker red and black fruits as well as leafy tobacco, cedar pencil, and spicy nuances. Medium-bodied, layered, and concentrated, it has the vintage's more structured, firm feel on the palate, rock-solid mid-palate depth, and a great finish. It needs 4-5 years of bottle age but will evolve for two decades.
• 91 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  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.