Château Smith Haut Lafitte, Grand Cru Classé, Pessac Léognan, 2023
A claret fit for a King. The Cathiards were visited by Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camillain 2023. The resulting wine is suitably regal with a gorgeous perfume of freshly cut flowers, cedar, crushed rocks, spices, and beautifully fragrant black cherry and mulberries. There's a very impressive core of bittersweet fruit and graphite, very clear fruited with a wash of velvety creme de cassis inflected with earthy minerals. Texturally this is very impressive with a seamless delivery of fruit and a composed, graceful, tannic frame. Polished but with classical elements, this is a beautifully measured SHL, which feels harmonious and very classy. Bravo. 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, aged in 60% new oak barrels.
critic reviews
This is just a beautiful Cabernet Sauvignon wine, cassis, bilberry, blueberry, iris flowers, crushed violets, mint leaf, squid ink, cramming secondary waves of flavour and aromatics, sit back and enjoy. Easy to smile at the precision on display here, delicate but with an intensity and concentration that tiptoes through the palate. Fabulous. Fabien Teitgen winemaker on his 28th vintage, and 24th as technical director. This is the vintage where you have King Charles and Camilla visiting, so has a special label. 26hl/h yields for the reds here.
The 2023 Smith Haut Lafitte, which has more Cabernet than usual due to the mildew-affected Merlot and the quality of the Cabernet itself. It has a really lovely bouquet that makes an immediate impact: blackberry and boysenberry fruit, subtle hints of violet and cassis. Very pure and well-defined. The palate is medium-bodied with silky tannins, perfectly pitched acidity, very harmonious and poised, with a gradual build toward the finish. This is one of the best reds that you will find in the 2023 vintage in Bordeaux — superb.
A blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot, the 2023 Smith Haut Lafitte is aging in 60% new oak and it is opaque purple-black in color. It needs a bit of shaking to brink forth an eruption of blackcurrant preserves, ripe plums, and baked black cherries, leading to hints of chocolate mint, violets, and unsmoked cigars, with a waft of pencil shavings. The medium to full-bodied palate is taut with muscular black fruits, delivering a solid frame of firm, grainy tannins and well-knit freshness, finishing long and earthy.
The 2023 Smith Haut Lafitte is a brilliant wine, revealing a complex, elegantly oaky bouquet of dark wild berries, mulberries, blueberries, flowers and spices. Medium to full-bodied, seamless and rich, it has a fleshy core of fruit with good concentration and refined, structured tannins that segues into a long, penetrating and mineral finish. Crafted with an unprecedented majority of Cabernet Sauvignondue to mildew affecting the Merlotthis Smith Haut Lafitte highlights a distinctly Cabernet-driven texture that authentically reflects its terroir despite a slightly more structured character. This blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, matured in 60% new oak barrels, represents one-third of the entire crop.