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

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

    97/100
    Inside Bordeaux
    95-97/100
    The Wine Independent
    95-97/100
    Vinous
    Available Vintages
    Broking
    1. 2022

      6x75cl

      DP

      £680.74

    En primeur
    1. 2022

      6x75cl

      EP

      £683.50

    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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    Critic Reviews

    95-97/100
    Neal Martin,
    Vinous
    The 2022 Smith Haut Lafitte was cropped at 29hL/ha between 5 and 30 September, undergoing half the extraction, aged in 60% new oak for a planned 18 months. It is fragrant and very pure on the nose: beautiful blackberry, raspberry and liquorice. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins, very elegant and focused, fine-boned with an exceptionally pure and caressing tobacco-tinged finish. This is going to grow to be a wonderful, delicious Smith Haut Lafitte. 14.5% alcohol.
    drinking window 2030 - 2065
    date of review 05/2023
    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
    97/100
    Jane Anson,
    Inside Bordeaux
    Inky colour, with vivid vibrant edging, curling and fragrant floral aromatics, plenty of energy from the first kick of peony and mandarin peel. The rich density of the blue and black fruits are set against slate and grippy tannins, giving textural contrast which makes it engaging, together with a saline scrape on the finish. Blueberry, cassis, ink, liquorice root, graphite, pink grapefruit, intensely expressed with a vertical rise through the palate, very much true to estate signature. 29hl/h, 3.65ph, 10% whole bunches fermentation, using a mix of full bunches and stalks that they select after destemming. 33% 1st wine, 4% press used in the blend, harvest September 5 to 30. Fabien Teitgen technical director.
    drinking window 2030 - 2048
    date of review 05/2023

    product details

    Specifications

    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.