Magnum Carruades de Lafite - Château Lafite Rothschild - Pauillac 2018

Vinous

91-93 / 100

byNeal Martinthe11/15/2019

The 2018 Carruades de Lafite was picked from September 17 until October 5. I prefer the bouquet to that of the 2017; it offers more fruit, more purity and perfume, and an almost floral style, touches of pressed violets infusing the black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin and well-matched acidity. There is cohesion here, and disarming rondeur on the supple, lightly spiced finish. A dash of white pepper lingers on the aftertaste. Excellent.

WeinWisser

17,5 / 20

the5/7/2019

Vinous

89-91 / 100

byAntonio Gallonithe5/3/2019

The 2018 Carruades de Lafite is silky, polished and very pretty. Silky tannins and bright, red-toned fruit give the Carruades a feel of total sophistication and polish. This is a very pretty second wine from Lafite-Rothschild. Even so, the four day-old sample almost certainly does not show the 2018 at its best. The blend is 56.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot and 5.5% Cabernet Franc.

Jeb DUNNUCK

94-96 / 100

byJeb Dunnuckthe5/1/2019

The second wine of Lafite is the 2018 Carruades De Lafite (56.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc). This ruby/purple colored effort offers classic Lafite elegance and purity as well as lead pencil, red and black currants, and tobacco. Elegant, silky, ultra-fine and beautifully balanced, with ripe tannins, it's a smoking second wine that’s going to keep for 2-3 decades.

Vinifera

92-94 /

byJacques Perrinthe5/1/2019

Beaucoup d'élégance dans l'expression aromatique. C'est fin, harmonieux sur des notes fruitées et épicées très raffinées. Bouche à l'unisson. Elle affiche un très joli équilibre sur un tanin bien découpé, croquant.

The Wine Cellar Insider

92-94 / 100

byJeff Levethe4/23/2019

A medium-bodied, elegant, black currant-filled wine that is refined, forward, fresh and clean. Silky textures and spicy, red pit fruits in the finish, the wine was made from blending 56.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot and 5.5% Cabernet Franc.

Wine Advocate

92-94 / 100

byLisa Perrotti-Brownthe4/23/2019

The 2018 Carruades de Lafite is composed of 56.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot and 5.5% Cabernet Franc. The Merlot was harvested September 17-24, the Cabernet Sauvignon was harvested September 25 to October 5, and the Cabernet Franc was harvested September 24. Deep garnet-purple colored, it reveals a very serious nose of pencil shavings, black tea, violets and dark chocolate with earthy wafts of underbrush and mossy bark over a core of warm cassis, blackberry preserves and black raspberries. Medium to full-bodied, the densely packed, black-fruited palate is laced with loads of compelling mineral sparks with a firm, grainy frame and beautiful freshness to lift the long, earthy finish.

Wine Enthusiast

93-95 / 100

byRoger Vossthe4/17/2019

This is a ripe, juicy wine that's rich and generous in texture, with light touches of spice and fine tannins. It has both weight and freshness, giving a wine that is elegant and ripe.

Decanter Magazine

93 / 100

byJane Ansonthe4/17/2019

This has rich fruit notes with exotic spices, a silky texture and a seductive approachability that clearly translates the higher than usual amount of Merlot in the blend this year, as with Petit Mouton. It’s a wine that is bound to make a lot of people happy but also means that whereas Lafite is archetypal Lafite, this is perhaps a less classic Carruades.
It still has the tannins of Pauillac, and as so often is the case this year the first time you taste feels easy then they steal up on you and start to layer but this is flexible and approachable, with a menthol finish.
Carruades is continuing to benefit from the techniques brought to it under in-house R&D technician Manuela Brando which include honing vineyard mapping, detailing smaller plots and tracking vine vigour, all of which are particularly useful since Carruades' soils are less consistent than those of the main wine. 39% of production.

Jamessuckling.com

95-96 / 100

byJames Sucklingthe4/12/2019

This is an extremely fine-grained Carraudes with a complex character of chocolate, walnut, cedar and a hint of graphite. Medium-to full-bodied, tight and chewy but, at the same time, agile and light. Savory finish. Special.