critic reviews
The 2023 Carruades de Lafite, which has Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot this year, has a delightful bouquet with lifted black cherries, blueberry and violet scents that blossom in the glass. Touches of vanilla pod emerge with time. The palate is medium-bodied with saturated tannins. Quite tensile, fresh, sapid with a bright finish, this is a clean and precise Carruades that lingers in the mouth. One of the best Carruades that I have tasted.
Medium intensity ruby, fairly austere right now, structured, with the same mint leaf and ink quality as Lafite. The sweet brambled black fruits only come in through the mid palate, this is well paced, unrolls slowly, a serious and concentrated Carruades that has its eye on the future. 12% pres wine, harvest September 7 to 29, unusually only using Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend.
The 2023 Carruades de Lafite is deep garnet-purple in color. After a swirl or two, a beautiful perfume of rose oil and lavender is released, opening out to a classic core of cassis, fresh plums, and pencil lead with a touch of red, iron-rich soil. The light to medium-bodied palate is delicately styled, with compelling vibrancy and nice, ripe, fine-grained tannins supporting the black fruits, finishing long and fragrant. This is very pretty! The blend is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot, with pH 3.70. The alcohol is 13.2%.
A blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot, the 2023 Carruades de Lafite is lovely, bursting with aromas of minty blackberries, cassis and cigar box, followed by a medium to full-bodied, fleshy and layered palate that's creamy and textural, its generous core of fruit largely concealing its powdery structuring tannins, concluding with a long, resonant finish.