(a blend of 64% cabernet sauvignon, 30% merlot, 5% cabernet franc and 1% petit verdot) Dark ruby-red with purple highlights. Slightly reduced, musky aromas of red berries, fresh herbs and lavender come across as rather cool. Then delicately smoky and fresh on the palate but the black fruit, mineral and underbrush flavors are still youthfully tight and stony. The long finish features mounting tannins and a lingering cassis note. This wine is still a bit folded in on itself and may yet blossom in the coming months, but at present it seems to be a little less concentrated than some recent vintages of Smith Haut Lafitte and perhaps a bit too tannic for its own good. Tasted four times, with some sample variability that made it harder to judge the wine.

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Deep crimson. Very glamorous and ripe on the nose. Polished and just chock full of classic ingredients. She points me towards the improving finish, having upbraided me for her mark compared with Dom de Chevalier. 'So you see I am fishing for my 'alf point.'

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This is an extraordinary performance once again from the Cathiard family, the proprietors of Smith-Haut-Lafitte. They think the 2010 is even better than the 2009. (I disagree, but only slightly.) This wine has laser-like definition in its an remarkable nose of a subtle charcoal fire interwoven with spring flowers, creme de cassis, blueberry liqueur and spicy wood. Full-bodied, stunningly concentrated, long, rich and moderately tannic, this wine is set for an exceptionally long life of 30-40 years but can be drunk in 5-7.

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