Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte, Rouge Cru Classe, Pessac-Leognan 2024

Dark fruit and soft rose aromatics, neat and tidy scents. A lovely juicy, fun expression from Smith this year with a dollop of sweet ripe fruit with cooling acidity and fine tannins. Definitely not demonstrative, this is about the precision rather than power or density but it’s graceful and long with focus and charm. Not trying too hard, this is sinewy with a soft fleshiness and really mineral-edged finish that adds tension - liquorice, slate, graphite and pencil lead. Harmonious and balanced. This leans into the vintage. Good construction and energy. 1% Petit Verdot completes the blend. Ageing 60% new oak barrels. 3.6pH.

Toasted cedar and sandalwood oak on the nose, the team as Smith Haut-Lafitte has done a lovely job of adding a gourmet lick of grilled blueberry and raspberry fruits to the opening moments of the wine, alongside richer damson and black cherry in the mid-palate. Great energy, lift and juice, vivid fruits, graphite, ink, chalk tannins, slimmer through the mid palate than in the bigger vintages, but everything in its place. 21hl/h yield, 60% new oak. Fabien Teitgen technical director.

Deep garnet-purple colored. Needs a little swirling and coaxing to bring out notes of fresh red and black currants, juicy blackberries, and lilac, followed by hints of cedar chest, bay leaves, and underbrush. The light to medium-bodied palate has a firm, grainy texture and beautiful freshness with tightly wound red and black fruit flavors and a long mineral-laced finish.

The Grand Vin 2024 Château Smith Haut Lafitte is based on 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot, harvested between September 18 and October 9. Resting in 60% new barrels, it's a deep purple-hued wine with classic aromas of dark currants, smoky tobacco, graphite, and spicy, wood-driven nuances. These carry to a medium to full-bodied Pessac-Léognan with ripe, velvety tannins, a dense mid-palate, and outstanding length. It's one of the few 2024s that will benefit from bottle age.

The 2024 Smith Haut Lafitte was picked from September 18 to October 9 and matured in 60% new oak. It has an understated bouquet that I appreciate, with scents of blackberry, raspberry, light rose petal and India ink that gradually unfurl in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, extremely well balanced and very refined, with a linear and correct finish. This is a classy Smith Haut Lafitte that will provide up to 20 years of drinking pleasure.

The 2024 Smith Haut Lafitte is raw and not fully formed. Today the tannins are imposing. There's good energy and depth in the glass, but the 2024 is very backward. Floral and spice notes emerge with air, but for the time being, Smith Haut Lafitte is a bit of a mystery.

Notes of spices, oak, dark berries and gentian preface the 2024 Smith Haut Lafitte, a medium-bodied, firm and structured wine with an assertive tannic frame that leads to a compact, gentian-inflected finish. This blend of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, matured in 60% new oak, is somewhat introverted and linear, making it a chewy Smith Haut Lafitte that will need time to unwind.