Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Pessac-Leognan Grand Cru Classé 2021 i trækasse

"Lots of clove, black-licorice and cigar-box character. Already perfumed" - James Suckling

Anmeldelser af Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Pessac-Leognan Grand Cru Classé 2021

96-98/100 VV Wine

97/100 Tastingbook.com

96-97/100 James Suckling
"Lots of clove, black-licorice and cigar-box character. Already perfumed. Medium body with fine, chalky and precise tannins. Lead-pencil shavings. Well framed and structured with a fresh, lengthy and spicy finish. Extremely long and intense. 63% cabernet sauvignon, 33% merlot, 3% cabernet franc and 1% petit verdot. From organically grown grapes."

95-97/100 Anthocyanes

95-97/100 Vinous - Antonio Galloni
"The 2021 Smith Haut Lafitte is fabulous. Rich and explosive in the glass, the 2021 possesses tremendous intensity, much of that the result of low yields of just 20-22 hectoliters per hectare, about half of what is typical here. The tannins are a bit firm today, but there appears to be more than enough fruit behind all of that structure. Vivid aromatics further suggest all the 2021 needs is time. I can't wait to see how it ages."

96/100 Markus Del Monego, Master of Wine
"Powerful, yet elegant displaying freshness, ripe fruit and elegant spiciness, a wine with a great depth and length, excellent."

95-96/100 Bettane & Desseauve

94-96/100 Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider
"Dark in color, the wine opens with blackberry, boysenberry, flowers, cocoa, licorice, chocolate and black cherry. The wine is soft, polished, elegant and refined, with silky tannins, energy and purity to the fruit, which you can taste in the mid-palate. The finish delivers a precise note of chocolate-covered mint and cherries with a mineral, chalky endnote. Blending 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, 13.5% ABV pH of 3.65. The harvest took place September 22 through October 14. Yields were low at only 22 hectoliters per hectare. Drink from 2027-2047."

94-96/100 Alexandre Ma
"As you see, the late harvest of SHL helps retain its symbolic beautiful and voluptuous style in the cool 2021. Unlike most wines in this vintage with gentle fruity fragrances, SHL still shows off the aromas of ripe berries. Swirling the glass, it sends forth complex flavors of salty dried plum, waxberry, and a hint of kale borecole. Respect for the excellent wine-making technique of Fabien's team. This wine boasts a powerful structure and rich tannins on the palate. Owing to its relatively plump body, it tastes smoothly in all conditions. It is an enthusiastic ode to winter presented by SHL, letting off warmth and happiness in the cold winters."

95/100 Jane Anson

94-95/100 Andrew Caillard
"Deep crimson. Mulberry, dark cherry, hint praline aromas with sage/ herb garden notes. Concentrated mulberry, dark cherry, blackcurrant brambly flavours, plentiful chewy firm tannins and vanilla oak notes. Elemental wine with very good density and richness of flavour. 63% cabernet sauvignon, 33% merlot 3% cabernet franc, 1% petit verdot. 18 months in French oak (30–60% new). 13% alc"

93-95/100 Robert Parker
"A brilliant wine, the 2021 Smith Haut Lafitte offers up aromas of blackberries, violets, coniferous forest floor and dark chocolate. Medium to full-bodied, velvety and seamless, it's deep and impressively multidimensional, with good concentration, beautifully refined tannins and notable purity of fruit, concluding with a long, penetrating finish. The fruit of a severe selection, this blend of 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot is testament to the Cathiard family's unwavering commitment to quality."

93-95/100 Jeb Dunnuck
"The flagship 2021 Château Smith Haut Lafitte checks in as 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and a splash of Petit Verdot. It's a rich, powerful wine, delivering lots of ripe black fruits (currants, some cassis), notes of scorched earth and graphite, medium to full body, ripe tannins, and a great mid-palate. It shows the straight, focused style of the vintage yet brings plenty of mid-palate depth, ripe, building tannins, and outstanding length."

94/100 Decanter
"Gorgeous aromas on the nose, so expressive with blackcurrant, plum, damson, strawberry and red cherry all abounding out of the glass. This has style and substance on the palate, the sour cherry, blackcurrant and blueberry covered in the terroir markers of slate, graphite, pencil lead and liquorice which are the drivers on the palate, the fruit taking a backseat right now though there is cohesion with verticality and an undercurrent of freshness. The energy is there, almost latent, it’s under the surface, brimming, not yet ready to go but it will be there in time. This has refinement and you feel they haven't pushed too hard. It’s definitely got the markers of the vintage, the coolness of the year, showing the grapes and terroir even more clearly in the glass, especially the spiced Cabernet aspects. I love the style and the no frills effect. It’s got a super long length too with enough class on show you know it will age well."