chateau smith haut lafitte grand cru classe pessac leognan

Château Smith Haut Lafitte, Grand Cru Classé, Pessac Léognan, 2022

Name: Château Smith Haut Lafitte, Grand Cru Classé, Pessac Léognan
Brand: Château Smith Haut Lafitte
Price: 840.94 GBP

98/100

Inside Bordeaux

95-97/100

The Wine Independent

96/100

Vinous

Available Vintages

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in bond

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Last Few
2022
6x75cl
DP
£840.94

Broking

2022
6x75cl
DP
£680.74

Justerini & Brooks Tasting note

This is clearly a very good Smith Haut Lafitte, but given the recent form, perhaps we expected a bit more. Lots of cool mineral infused fruit, graphite mingles with truffle, smoke and earth. Very clear, sleek, ripe dark fruit, blueberries, blackberries, liquorice and salt lend a warm glowing sensation with quite a lot of grippy wood tannin, hints of toast and coffee bean. It feels like there's a lot of extraction, and although there's a sense of modernity to the winemaking, the flavours are rather classical. Good intensity and well balanced with a large-scale tannic framework. Produced from 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot cropped at 29 hl/ha.

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GUARANTEED PROVENANCE

Provenance in fine wine

When it comes to purchasing wine, provenance is of upmost importance. A wine’s history – where it’s sourced from and how it’s been stored – can have an enormous influence on the eventual enjoyment it provides. At Justerini & Brooks, we can trace nearly every case back to the domaine, estate or Château it originally came from; we ship from over 200 wine producers throughout the world.

Wines not bought directly from the vineyard are either sourced from trusted suppliers, with whom we share the same philosophy and rigour in buying, or from our own network of Cellarers customers. These customers’ wines are stored in optimal conditions in Octavian Corsham and, in the vast majority of cases, have been stored by us since the wine was first shipped. We do not purchase wine from auctions.

We feel it is equally important to for our customers that the case they buy and leave in storage with us is exactly the same case they subsequently have delivered. This may sound obvious and straightforward, yet we are one of very few merchants to have taken measures to ensure this.

We have created a system where every case is independent, thereby ensuring a trail of ownership and peace of mind for every customer.

The Journey

Justerinis ensures that every case of wine stored with Cellarers (Wines) Ltd has a unique identifier and customer’s name, almost unheard of in the industry as it is expensive to administer. These details are printed and placed on every case which is logged and recorded under your account name and kept in the world’s most renowned storage facility, Octavian Corsham.

This information is sent from our systems to the warehouse every day to ensure the trail of ownership is verified and upheld.

While customer reserves are stored in Corsham, our physical stocks are kept in Hoddesdon, further providing a geographical separation between customers’ wines with Cellarers and Justerinis’ own stock.

Further Reassurance

Cellarers (Wines) Ltd is a legally separate limited company from Justerini & Brooks which currently holds approximately £450 million worth of customer reserves. It is fully insured to catastrophic loss. Many merchants will state that wine in their care is fully insured, but in reality this is on an individual case basis with insufficient cover for total loss as this is prohibitively expensive. The cover provided by Octavian and Justerini & Brooks is unmatched.

Cellarers (Wines) Ltd is audited by PwC every year.

Critic Reviews

98/100

Jane Anson,

Inside Bordeaux

This shows reserve on the nose, pared-back elegance, layers of black fruits, violets, peony, spice, liquorice, cocoa bean, mint leaf, lemongrass, beautifully textured and supple tannins. Builds and raises the level of intensity through the palate, creamy black cherry, damson and peach pit also, great tension, chalk, energy, tension, conctration and freshness as the aromatics expand, 60% new oak for ageing, 10% whole bunches fermentation. Sure to age. Fabien Teitgen technical director, Florence and Daniel Cathiard owners.

drinking window 2030 - 2046

date of review 03/2025

96/100

Neal Martin,

Vinous

The 2022 Smith Haut Lafitte, bottled in June 2024, includes 15% of the stems, though winemaker Fabien Teitgen emphasizes that he does not want their effect to be palpable in the blend. Its fragrant bouquet blends red and black fruit with hints of anise and Italian herbs, coming across quite complex and a little more flamboyant than some of its Pessac peers. The medium-bodied palate features plush tannins and very pure black fruit interlaced with hints of graphite and black pepper. Boasting gentle grip and a great sense of harmony, this is a wonderful Smith Haut Lafitte that will evolve in bottle over many years.

drinking window 2030 - 2065

date of review 02/2025

95-97/100

Lisa Perrotti-Brown,

The Wine Independent

The 2022 Smith Haut Lafitte Rouge is a blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot, with a yield of 29 hl/ha and aging in 60% new oak. Deep garnet-purple in color, it needs a lot of shaking to wake up notes of blackcurrant jelly, redcurrant preserves, boysenberries, and pencil lead, followed by suggestions of lilacs, Sichuan pepper, and cedar chest. The full-bodied palate is built like a skyscraper, delivering mouth-coating black fruits with red berry sparks supported by rock-solid, firm tannins, finishing very long and with a refreshing mineral lift. pH 3.70.

drinking window 2029 - 2059

date of review 05/2023

product details

Specifications

Country:

France

Region:

Bordeaux

Appellation:

Pessac Léognan

Producer:

Château Smith Haut Lafitte

style:

Red Wine

Grape Variety:

Cab Sauvignon Merlot

abv:

14%

allergen information

This product may contain sulphites. Full allergen information is available upon request, please call our Customer Relations Team on +44 (0)20 7484 6430.