Smith Haut Lafitte Rouge 2022 (750ML)

97-98 JS / 97 DE / 97 JA / 96-98 JD / 95-97+ WI / 95-97 VM / 94-95 WA

The polish, texture, complexity and patina are very impressive and fascinating. So spicy and interesting with so much going on. Medium body with wonderfully integrated tannins that are cut and nicely chiselled already. Lemon and violet. 64% cabernet sauvignon, 32% merlot, 3% cabernet franc and 1% petit verdot. - James Suckling

A real success of the vintage that manages to deliver a bold, structured, concentrated and powerful wine with real terroir signature. You get the impression it’s from a warm vintage, but I love the fact you have texture, volume and weight but keeping the finesse. Fragranced black fruit and purple floral notes with soft medicinal herbal touches on the nose. Sleek and supple, tannins make the impression with juicy blackcurrants, black cherries and strawberries. Excellent tannin definition, they’re filling, massy and round, almost plush but accented by acidity and freshness. Strong signature, you know you're in gravel with Cabernet. Juicy, clean, pure, but with bite and intensity. I love the dark savoury notes too, the cough syrup, liquorice, clove, tobacco and cigar box elements, complex and captivating. 4% press. 3.65pH 30% whole bunch Petit Verdot in the blend. Potential upsore in bottle. 1% Petit Verdot completes the blend. 60% new oak barrels; - Georgina Hindle, Decanter

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. - Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

Moving to the Grand Vin, the 2022 Château Smith Haut Lafitte checks in as 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot. This ripe, powerful, concentrated wine reminds me of the 2010 with its structure, concentrated mid-palate, and just sheer density and regal, full-bodied style on the palate. Despite its size, it stays balanced, has a beautiful perfume of sweet black fruits, graphite, scorched earth, and spring flowers, building tannins, and a great, great finish. - Jeb Dunnuck

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. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine independent

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 mediumbodied 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. - Neal Martin, Vinous Media

The 2022 Smith Haut Lafitte opens in the glass with attractive aromas of cassis, spices, tobacco, graphite and licorice, followed by a medium to fullbodied palate that is deep and layered, with good depth and powdery structuring tannins that assert themselves on the finish. This blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot will require some patience, given its somewhat extracted style, - Yohan Castaing, Wine Advocate