Red Wine

The Second Wine of the prestigious Premier Grand Cru Classé – Château Lafite-Rothschild – the Carruades de Lafite 2010 reflects the identity of the great terroirs of Pauillac.

The 2010 Carruades de Lafite wine offers a smoky nose and a fleshy sensation with dark plum, charcoal and coffee notes. These are the characteristics of a nice grip on the finish which reveals a sensation of persistent plum skin in this second wine from Pauillac. The Carruades de Lafite wine displays much of the same lead pencil, charcoal and black currant notes of its bigger sister, although it is forward, precocious and far less structured than the grand vin. Nevertheless, this wine, which can be drunk now, will cellar beautifully for at least 20-25 more years.

This 2010 Carruades De Lafite has a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42.5% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and the rest Petit Verdot.

95 points James Suckling
94 points Wine Advocate
93 points Wine Spectator

The Second Wine of the prestigious Premier Grand Cru Classé – Château Lafite-Rothschild – the Carruades de Lafite 2015 reflects the identity of the great terroirs of Pauillac.

The 2015 Carruades de Lafite wine has a satisfying purity on the nose. This Carruades de Lafite has a blackberry and briary, a distant, cold slate-like note just underneath, with the new oak. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin. There is moderate depth to this slightly foursquare and conservative Carruades, but there is also plenty of freshness and it has an appealing, unassuming finish that is both harmonious and precise.

This 2015 Carruades De Lafite has a blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot and 7% Cabernet Franc.

95 points Wine Enthusiast
94 points James Suckling
91 points Wine Advocate

The Second Wine of the prestigious Premier Grand Cru Classé – Château Lafite-Rothschild – the Carruades de Lafite 2016 reflects the identity of the great terroirs of Pauillac.

The 2016 Carruades de Lafite wine has a velvety tannins coalesce with the black plum and berry fruits. This Carruades de Lafite is juicy and perfumed, with notes of spice and dark fruits as well as intense final acidity. It has an attractive bouquet with smoke and tobacco infused black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp tannin. This Pauillac is rather sophisticated (a great representation of the terroir) with fine and well-integrated tannins. Freshness and precision are waiting for us in every sip. A classic and solid Carruades.

This 2016 Carruades De Lafite has a blend of 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 49% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot this year that matured in around 20-25% new oak.

95 points James Suckling
95 points Wine Enthusiast
91 points Wine Advocate

The Second Wine of the prestigious Premier Grand Cru Classé – Château Lafite-Rothschild – the Carruades de Lafite 2018 reflects the identity of the great terroirs of Pauillac.

The 2018 Carruades de Lafite wine has a deep garnet-purple colored, it comes skipping out of the glass with bright, cheery scents of redcurrant jelly, blackcurrant pastilles and Morello cherries with hints of candied violets, pencil shavings, menthol and crushed rocks. This Carruades de Lafite wine is a medium-bodied and elegantly styled, with layers of crunchy red and black fruits. This Pauillac wine is beautifully ripe with fine-grained texture and loads of freshness, finishing long and mineral laced.

This second wine of Lafite is the 2018 Carruades De Lafite has a blend of 56.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc.

96 points James Suckling
95 points Wine Enthusiast
94 points Wine Advocate

The Second Wine of the prestigious Premier Grand Cru Classé – Château Lafite-Rothschild – the Carruades de Lafite 2019 reflects the identity of the great terroirs of Pauillac.

The 2019 Carruades de Lafite wine is a beautiful with currant, sweet-tobacco and wet-earth aromas and flavors. This Carruades de Lafite is a medium-bodied with a dense center-palate and tight, polished tannins. Fresh, with tension. This is a powerhouse wine that shows little of the radiance.

This 2019 Carruades De Lafite has a blend of 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Franc.

96 points James Suckling
95 points Decanter
94 points Jeb Dunnuck

The 2020 Casa Ferreirinha Callabriga has a deep ruby colour. This Casa Ferreirinha Callabriga wine has an intense and complex aroma with floral notes, tropical fruit, black and red fruit, spices and a minerality that contains hints of wet shale. Wood of great quality is well-integrated and contributes to the aromatic complexity. On the palate, it has good volume, with excellent, rounded tannins and a fantastic acidity. Further aromas of red and tropical fruit come to the fore, along with floral notes and hints of cocoa, courtesy of an excellent maturation.

Casa Ferreirinha was the first Douro producer dedicated entirely to making table wines, rather than Port. Its origins date back to 1952 when Fernando Nicolau de Almeida produced the first ever vintage of Barca-Velha and kickstarted the quality revolution in Douro table wines. Named after the legendary Dona Antónia Ferreira, one of the formidable widows of the world of wine, Casa Ferreirinha pays homage to the memory of this visionary woman. Today, the winemaking team is headed up by Luís Sottomayor, who restrains the Douro’s natural exuberance to produce wines that have a vibrant freshness allied to a lovely texture and depth.

The 2019 Casa Ferreirinha Quinta da Leda wine has a deep ruby in colour. This Casa Ferreirinha Quinta da Leda has complex and intense aromas of black fruits, with spicy hints of black pepper and cloves. There are balsamic hints and subtle menthol notes with very well-integrated oak. On the palate, it has fine tannins, with a well-developed acidity resulting in a long finish.

This vineyard in the Douro Superior is used as part of the blend for the legendary Barca Velha. In other years, it shows its qualities as a single-vineyard wine. The 2015 Quinta da Leda is a blend of 50% Touriga Franca, 20% Touriga Nacional and 15% each of Tinto Cão and Tinta Roriz, aged for 18 months in an equal mixture of new and used French oak.

96 Wine Enthusiast
94 Wine Spectator
94 Mark Squires – Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate

The 2019 Casa Ferreirinha Vinha Grande wine has a deep ruby colour and intense aromas of flowers, strawberry and raspberry fruit, a touch of black pepper and well-integrated oak. The palate has well-integrated acidity, velvety tannins, a delicate minerality and notes of red berries. This Casa Ferreirinha Vinha Grande wine is elegant and has a long finish.

Vinha Grande is the second oldest wine of the Douro Valley (behind Barca Velha) and its heritage is noticeable in every sip. The Casa Ferreirinha Vinha Grande 2016 ia a elegant, complex wine with the structure of a fine Bordeaux exhibiting flavours of blackcurrant, leather and subtle oak spice.

This 2022 Cave Valcombe Nuit D’Amour Dole has an intense garnet red color. The Nuit D’Amour Dole has a crisp, fruity nose with fresh hints of black cherry and blackberry. Pleasant berry and flowery notes on the palate. An essential Swiss wine.

The Dôle is a ritual blend of Pinot Noir (majority) and Gamay. The blend of this 2020 Cave Valcombe Nuit D’Amour Dole consists of at least 85% Pinot Noir and Gamay, where the Pinot Noir must dominate. The Dôle is a protected name for this Valais wine.

The 2021 Chain of Ponds Graves Gate Shiraz wine has the aromas of redcurrant, fresh raspberries and black olive balanced by plums, hints of mulberry and cedary spice. Lifted sweet notes of vanilla and cashews. The Shiraz has a deep cherry red with slight purple/plum hue. The palate is rich and lively displaying primary red fruits with hints of white pepper and blueberry along with good savoury supporting oak. This Graves Gate Shiraz wine is lively acid and slightly chalky tannins give savoury and textural length to the palate.

The Chain of Ponds Pilot Block Shiraz 2019 has a dark Cherry Red with brick red hue. Intense dark cherry fruits, rhubarb nuances and chocolate on the nose. Dark cherry, chocolate and red stone fruits on the palate. A well balanced acid structure supports the wine while complementing the interesting and persistent sour cherry and fruitcake finish.

The 2019 Chain of Ponds The Cachet Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz Merlot wine has a deep cherry red with deep red hue. Intensely complex nose showing dark red fruits, plum, balanced spice of cloves with nuances of smoke, hints of menthol and tobacco. Generous palate of dark fleshy fruits upfront with subtle spice and smokiness.

This Chain of Ponds The Cachet Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz Merlot wine has an intense full bodied palate with savoury tannins. Well-balanced acidity with good fruit length balanced with savoury oak tones.

The 2019 Charles Melton Cabernet Sauvignon wine has a wonderfully complex cigary sweet lift. On the nose, whilst the amalgam of dark fruits holds your interest with a myriad of complementary notes. The attack into the mouth gives an extraordinary sweet plushness with great dark fruits/chicory flavours supported by a fleshy mid palate sweetness that lingers. This Charles Melton Cabernet Sauvignon wine is rich, but not massively constructed wine with a balanced palate of fine proportions.

The 2021 Charles Melton Father In Law is a delicious Barossa Shiraz, a real fruit driven style which will appeal to lovers of big “ballsie” reds. Perfect for the next family gathering. Sweet spicy almost Christmas plum pudding scent, rich and warm. Full but not overly big, showing the typical bit of Clare Valley linear structure in contrast to the Father in Law’s, shall we say, less linear profile.

The 2017 Charles Melton Grains of Paradise Shiraz has a wonderful expression of the traditional Barossa style. Deep in colour and softly perfumed with excellent melding of vanillin and cedar oak aromatics and rich Barossa Shiraz fruit. This Charles Melton Father In Law Shiraz wine as an intense coffee and mocha flavours are supported by firm tannins and richness of mouthfeel.

This Charles Melton Shiraz wine is very rich and opulent with high quality fruit showing lovely voluptuousness, ripe yet defined tannis, moderate oakand terrifically poised balanced. The Charles Melton Nine Popes Grenache Shiraz Mourvedre 2016 wine is from Barossa Valley, South Australia.