Château Lafite Rothschild 2019

So much sweet tobacco, Spanish cedar, dried flowers, dark mushrooms and roses. Really aromatic. This is so polished and very powerful, yet ethereal and refined at the same time. The finish goes on for minutes. Tight and harmonious. You want to drink it! So balanced, yet it will age beautifully. It will be this good forever. 94% cabernet sauvignon, 5% merlot and 1% petit verdot. Better after 2031.

Ripe nose, so fresh and alive with beautiful cherry perfumed aromas too. This has a lovely, almost sweet, aspect to the fruit on the palate with high acidity making you salivate. High toned blackcurrants and red cherries are supported by soft tannins and gentle licks of liquorice and coffee. A wine you just want to drink now as it's so appealing with freshness and lift but it has the sides of spice that give it structure and make you realise it's still powerful and will age so well. The finish is cool and lifted. Poise and persistence - a tantalising Carruades.

One of the greatest wines produced in Bordeaux this year is the 2019 Lafite Rothschild, an impeccably balanced classic of immense charm and grace. Wafting from the glass with arresting aromas of cassis, blackberries and cherries mingled with violets, cigar box and warm spices, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and seamless, its velvety attack segueing into a layered, concentrated mid-palate framed by exquisitely powdery tannins and ripe acids, and concluding with a long, perfumed finish. This rivals the 2010 and 2016 as the greatest Lafite of the decade, and of those three vintages, it's clearly the most sensual and demonstrative out of the gates. The blend contains fully 94% Cabernet Sauvignon and attained a modest 13.4% alcohol.