2023 Smith Haut Lafitte
Buying options
Tasting notes
This is a weighty and serious wine in 2023. Blackberry, huckleberry, with more delicate violet, lavender and pepper leap from the glass, supported by graphite, woodsy forest floor and faint liquorice. Firm, grippy tannins spread across the palate, ending on a slightly astringent note. There is such a fresh and energetic quality to this wine, with juicy red fruit and lovely acidity, despite the densely packed fruit and more savoury notes. Definitely a wine to age for decades to come. The 2023 is particularly memorable for the Cathiard family as King Charles III and Queen Camilla chose to visit the estate during the harvest. As such every bottle of both the red and white will bear a commemorative label to mark the occasion. Aged in 60% new oak, with 14% alcohol and 3.65 pH. Blend: 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot
Critic scores
Average Score
James Suckling
Yohan Castaing, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
Blackcurrants, smoky tobacco, graphite, and hints of espresso all emerge from the 2023 Château Smith Haut Lafitte, a gorgeous effort based on 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot. This is the highest percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon ever used in the blend, largely due to mildew, yet the team also loved the quality of the Cabernet in the vintage. Medium to full-bodied, it has a concentrated, focused mouthfeel, plenty of ripe tannins, and a chalky, mineral, fresh feel on the finish. I love the overall balance as well as the purity here. Hide bottles for just 4-5 years and it's going to blow you away over the following 30 years. Drink 2029-2055.
The 2023 Smith Haut Lafitte is packed with sumptuous black cherry fruit, gravel, dried herbs, licorice and tobacco. Floral overtones appear with air, adding layers of dimension and complexity. There's a bit more Cabernet Sauvignon in this year's blend because Merlot suffered more through mildew episodes. That yields a Grand Vin that is a bit less sensual in the early going but also more explosive and powerful.
This is just a beautiful Cabernet Sauvignon wine, cassis, bilberry, blueberry, iris flowers, crushed violets, mint leaf, squid ink, cramming secondary waves of flavour and aromatics, sit back and enjoy. Easy to smile at the precision on display here, delicate but with an intensity and concentration that tiptoes through the palate. Fabulous. Fabien Teitgen winemaker on his 28th vintage, and 24th as technical director. This is the vintage where you have King Charles and Camilla visiting, so has a special label. 26hl/h yields for the reds here.
About the producer
Ch. Smith Haut Lafitte is one of the leading lights of Pessac-Léognan today – all thanks to Daniel and Florence Cathiard, who took over the property in 1990 and have since transformed the estate, converting to biodynamics and crafting wines of increasing finesse.