Winemaker Notes
Château Lafite Rothschild’s second wine, Carruades de Lafite presents similar characteristics to the Grand Vin, but with its own personality linked to a higher proportion of Merlot and to specific plots that are used to produce Carruades. The name comes from the Carruades plateau, a group of plots acquired in 1845 just next to the vines on the Château hilltop.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
So much rich, sweet tobacco with currants and spices, as well as graphite. Full-bodied, tight and focused with oyster-shell and lead-pencil character on the palate. Tangy, spicy and peppery. Needs three to four years to soften, but already beautiful.
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Wine Enthusiast
A classic blend with 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 35% Merlot, this is richly structured and well concentrated. Its dark black fruit notes give both depth and a juicy character to match the structure.
Barrel Sample: 91-93 -
Decanter
Lafite got to enjoy a year without excess and without frost, and this is elegant stuff. The tannins are a touch rigid at the beginning, supporting firm black autumnal fruits, classically framed and a touch austere, with cigar box smoke adding a swirl of complexity. As with many of the second wines in Pauillac this year, this is excellently put together but on the savoury side, reflecting the story of the vintage. 20% new oak. This is sure to age well and be ready to drink within four to eight years.
Barrel Sample -
Jeb Dunnuck
Brought up in just 20% new oak, the 2017 Carruades De Lafite checks in as 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and a splash of Cabernet Franc. It has that classic Lafite-like elegance and lead pencil character as well as ripe red currants and tobacco notes, medium body, a rounded, seamless texture, and present yet ripe tannins. It's a charming, elegant second wine that will evolve for 15-20 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Carruades de Lafite is a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it prances out of the glass with joyful notions of black cherries, redcurrant jelly and cassis plus hints of kirsch, cedar chest, pencil lead and a waft of raspberry leaves. Medium-bodied, the palate possesses bags of poise and freshness, dishing out lots of bright red and black fruits with a soft, finely grained frame, finishing long with a skip in its step.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
The leader on the Left Bank in number of first growth classified producers within its boundaries, Pauillac has more than any of the other appellations, at three of the five. Chateau Lafite Rothschild and Mouton Rothschild border St. Estephe on its northern end and Chateau Latour is at Pauillac’s southern end, bordering St. Julien.
While the first growths are certainly some of the better producers of the Left Bank, today they often compete with some of the “lower ranked” producers (second, third, fourth, fifth growth) in quality and value. The Left Bank of Bordeaux subscribes to an arguably outdated method of classification that goes back to 1855. The finest chateaux in that year were judged on the basis of reputation and trading price; changes in rank since then have been miniscule at best. Today producers such as Chateau Pontet-Canet, Chateau Grand Puy-Lacoste, Chateau Lynch-Bages, among others (all fifth growth) offer some of the most outstanding wines in all of Bordeaux.
Defining characteristics of fine wines from Pauillac (i.e. Cabernet-based Bordeaux Blends) include inky and juicy blackcurrant, cedar or cigar box and plush or chalky tannins.
Layers of gravel in the Pauillac region are key to its wines’ character and quality. The layers offer excellent drainage in the relatively flat topography of the region allowing water to run off into “jalles” or streams, which subsequently flow off into the Gironde.