Carruades de Lafite 2015

Professional Ratings

• 94 James Suckling
  Lead-pencil aromas with currants and plums, too. Full body, silky tannins and a focused and very refined finish. It's the tannins that drive things. An excellent second wine of Lafite. Needs two or three years to soften. Start drinking in 2021.
• 94 Wine Enthusiast
  This second wine of Lafite comes from young vines and wines selected during the blending. The result is a wine with the structure and nobility of the Lafite character but one that will age more quickly. It has great layers of black-currant fruits and acidity, with firm tannins as a background and rich potential. Drink from 2025.
  Cellar Selection
• 92 Jeb Dunnuck
  The second wine of Lafite Rothschild is the 2015 Carruades De Lafite and is a beautiful wine in its own right. Based on 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc brought up mostly in used barrels, it has classy notes of cassis and lead pencil shavings as well as a medium to full-bodied, elegant, beautifully balanced style on the palate. It’s not a massive wine by any stretch, yet it exudes class and elegance, and is already a joy to drink.
• 91 Decanter
  A discreet nose of real finesse with the Lafite violets prettily present. While it seems on the light side now, time in barrel will add structure.
• 91 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  The 2015 Carruades de Lafite is a blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot and 7% Cabernet Franc. This has a satisfying purity on the nose: blackberry and briary, a distant, cold slate-like note just underneath, with the new oak (close to 20%) neatly subsumed. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin. There is moderate depth to this slightly foursquare and conservative Carruades, but there is also plenty of freshness and it has an appealing, unassuming finish that is both harmonious and precise. Probably one of the most approachable deuxième vins, afford this 2-3 years in bottle before broaching.
  Barrel Sample: 89-91
• 91 Wine Spectator
  Warm plum, fig and black tea notes mix here, with a charcoal frame and a smoldering tobacco accent running through the finish. The velvety and slightly rugged textures are intertwined, showing a nice tug of earth at the end. Best from 2022 through 2030.