Carruades de Lafite 2016

While few people get excited about second wines, the reality today is that the top estates are making such a strict selection that their second wines are unquestionably equivalent to the grand vins of a few decades ago. Case in point: the 2016 Carruades de Lafite, a brilliant wine that stands up with the top wines in Pauillac. Offering a medium to full-bodied, seamless, incredibly pure style as well as classy black cherry fruits, graphite, licorice, and dried earth, it’s impeccably balanced, has no hard edges, and is already hard to resist. Drink it any time over the coming 20-25 years. Maturity: 2019-2044. Score – 94. (jebdunnuck.com, Feb. 28, 2019)