2000 | Chateau Smith-Haut-Lafitte Rouge | Pessac-Leognan

Showing a bit more maturity than some peers, this pushes singed cedar and smoldering alder flavors to the fore, along with well-mulled currant and fig fruit notes backed by a prominent tobacco edge on the finish.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: One can’t say enough about this winery, which may still fly under the radar of most consumers. The fully mature 2000 displays gorgeous aromas of camphor, lead pencil shavings, unsmoked tobacco, plums, and black currants. With full body, a velvety texture, and beautiful weight, richness, and length, this superb wine should evolve, possibly improve for another 15 years. It’s a beauty.

• James Suckling: Very subtle and complex, with tobacco, chocolate and ripe fruit character. Medium-bodied, with well-integrated, silky tannins and a long finish. Refined, yet muscular.

Producer Information

Château Smith Haut Lafitte is located in Pessac-Léognan on the Left Bank of the Garonne River. During the 1959 Classification of the Graves it was rated as Grand Cru Classé for its red wine. Nowadays the estate is also considered to produce one of the foremost examples of white Bordeaux. Cabernet Sauvignon usually accounts for 60-65 percent of the red grand vin. Merlot contributes around 30 percent, and small amounts of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot round out a typical blend. The wine is aged in barrel for around 18 months, with 60-65 percent new wood. The white grand vin is usually Sauvignon Blanc-dominant, with around five percent each of Sémillon and Sauvignon Gris. The wine is fermented and aged in barrel, resting on its lees for a year. Half of barrels are new in both stages. The second wines are the Le Petit Haut Lafitte white (introduced in 2013) and red (from 2010). They are made from lots identified during the blending of the grand vins. With the second wines, the red is designed to show more of a rounder, Right Bank style, and is usually a 55:45 blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, aged in barrel for 14 months. The white is an 80:20 Sauvignon Blanc - Sémillon combination, also vinified like the grand vin, but with around 10 months of barrel maturation. The Les Hauts de Smith duo are now the third wines of the estate. They are usually matured in barrel for the same length of time as their Petit Haut Lafitte, but with a lower proportion of new oak. The 78 hectares (193 acres) of vineyards and the château sit on a low hill of stones and pebbles deposited by the Garonne River. This gravelly soil offers not only superb drainage, but also reflects sunshine to amplify its benefits to the vines and fruit. The vineyard is farmed organically and produces its own compost. A horse is used to plow the more fragile soils of the white wine vineyard. Biodiversity efforts include the siting of beehives around the estate. Smith Haut Lafitte has its own vine nursery, situated on Ile de Lalande in the middle of the Garonne.

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