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When you can’t quite stretch to a bottle of the First Growth Lafite, the second wine, Carruades, makes a superb alternative. A serious 97-pt wine with densely packed, black fruit and a and beautiful freshness that lifts the long, earthy finish.
Tasting notes
Medium-full bodied with smoky red fruit supported by elegant tannins
Aroma
Coffee, tobacco, red fruit and spice
Allergy information
Contains sulphites
More information
Château Lafite needs little introduction – “the first growth of first growths” according to Clive Coates MW. It’s from Pauillac – the Haut Médoc’s most majestic expression of Cabernet Sauvignon, full of minty blackcurrant fruit, deep smoky tobacco and pencil lead notes. Their first wine fetches hundreds of pounds a bottle, but from fruit grown in vineyards on the Carruades plain (next to some of the estate’s finest plots), they also make this superb second wine. It has the richness, finesse and style of the Grand Vin, but also a stamp of its own, thanks to more Merlot. Aging in oak barrels for a year adds to the layers of complexity. This claret will improve for years to come, so let the wine breathe for an hour before serving.