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. Drink 2024 - 2036. 93 points

56.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, 5.5% Cabernet Franc. They have made big improvements in the vineyard with soil and vigour analysis to improve selection. `Surgical precision`, says technical director Eric Kohler. They had done this in Lafite but not for Carruades and its vineyards are more heterogeneous so it has made even more difference. Carruades benefited therefore not just from this but also from the Merlot that would have been good enough for Lafite but was not needed. Barrel sample.
Dark core with narrow dark rim. Very ripe but not overripe black fruit. Rich and savoury at the same time, a really dark, elegant wine with good acidity. The tannins here are notable for their extreme finesse, dry, wonderful texture, with a hint of clean dry dark chocolate on the finish. Fabulous tannins. Juicy and so elegant at the same time. Light on its feet even with this concentration. High score is especially for the tannins.17.5 points

The 2018 Carruades de Lafite is composed of 56.5% C abernet 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. 92-94 points

In this vintage Carruades is 56.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, picked September 25th to October 5th, 38% Merlot, picked September 17th to the 24th, and 5.5% Cabernet Franc, picked September 24th. The yield was 40 hl/ha. The alcohol is a little higher than in the grand vin, and is a little more typical of the vintage, coming in at 13.9%, although for the left bank in 2018 that still feels restrained. It has a lovely aromatic purity, very fresh and precise, which precedes a charming and lightly minerally character on the palate, showing with a tight and grainy substance. The palate is energetic and fresh, brimming with smoked plum and berry, very pure, gently textured and silky, all wrapped in cinnamon and toasted oak. An elegant style to the finish, admittedly polished by oak, but still pure and cool, with some tightly grained tannins. An attractive wine. 92-94 points

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. 89-91 points