2015 Ch Smith Haut Lafitte Grand Cru Classé Pessac-Léognan - 12x75cl
06B5SMHL _ 2015 - Ch Smith Haut Lafitte Grand Cru Classé Pessac-Léognan - 12x75cl
  • Colour Red
  • Producer Château Smith Haut Lafitte
  • Region Pessac-Léognan
  • Grape Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot / Cabernet Franc
  • Drinking 2024 - 2040
  • Case size 12x75cl
  • Available

2015 - Ch Smith Haut Lafitte Grand Cru Classé Pessac-Léognan - 12x75cl

  • Colour Red
  • Producer Château Smith Haut Lafitte
  • Region Pessac-Léognan
  • Grape Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot / Cabernet Franc
  • Drinking 2024 - 2040
  • Case size 12x75cl
  • Available

No further quantities available

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Pricing

  • IN BOND prices exclude UK Duty and VAT. Wines can be purchased In Bond for storage in Private Reserves or another bonded warehouse, or for export to non-EU countries. Duty and VAT must be paid before delivery can take place.

  • RETAIL prices include UK Duty and VAT. Wines for UK delivery can only be purchased this way.

Additional Information

  • Duty Paid wines have been removed from Bond and cannot subsequently be returned to Bond.  VAT is payable on Duty Paid wines. These wines must remain Duty Paid but can be purchased as such for storage subject to VAT.

  • En Primeur wines can only be purchased In Bond. On arrival in the UK these wines can either be stored In Bond in Private Reserves or another bonded warehouse or delivered directly to you. When you decide to take delivery, Duty and VAT at the prevailing rate become payable.

  • Goedhuis, April 2016, Score: 92-94

    This has an exuberant, oak-kissed nose followed by a palate filled with fine, grippy tannins. A real fistful of concentrated black fruits, it culminates in a long and sustained finish.

  • Neal Martin, July 2019, Score: 95

    The 2015 Smith Haut-Lafitte has a detailed and focused bouquet with blackberry, cedar and freshly rolled tobacco aromas, unfurling with each swirl of the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannin, taut and crisp with cedar and graphite. Unashamedly classic in style, it has impressive depth and good grip on the finish. This is destined to give a lot of pleasure. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting.

  • Neal Martin, April 2016, Score: 95-97

    The 2015 Smith-Haut-Lafitte is adorned with a special label to celebrate the 650th anniversary of the château and the 25th vintage made under the ownership of Daniel and Florence Cathiard. It is a blend of 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, picked between 23 September until 12 October with the Cabernet Franc. Matured in 65% new oak (although technical director Fabien Teitgen mentioned that he could have added more if he felt it would benefit), it has a very intense, blueberry and crème de cassis scented bouquet, a touch more opulent than its peers with hints of freshly shucked oyster shell developing with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with filigree tannin couched in gorgeous, satin-textured black cherry and cassis fruit, tinged with cedar and pencil shavings. It lingers very long and sensually in the mouth, completing a sophisticated and powerful Smith Haut-Lafitte that should age in splendid fashion.

  • Antonio Galloni, April 2016, Score: 93-96+

    The 2015 Smith Haut Lafitte is superb. Dark, powerful and towering, the 2015 exudes richness and a level of intensity in all directions that is remarkable. This is an especially dark, brooding Grand Vin built on serious depth, intensity and structure, and yet there is more than enough richness in the fruit to balance things out. The extreme heat of the year appears to have baked out some of the aromatic nuance. It will be interesting to see if that dimension opens up. For now, the 2015 is massively shut down. Readers will have to be especially patient, as the 2015 won't be ready to drink for some time. Both en primeur samples I tasted were less expressive than the separate components were when I tasted them from barrel in late January 2016, so I won't be surprised at all if the bottled wine comes in at the top of this range. Tasted two times.

  • Robert Parker, Feb 2018, Score: 97/100

    This vintage is a blend of 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, matured in 65% new oak barrels. Medium to deep garnet-purple, the 2015 Smith Haut Lafitte has a totally dazzling nose of exotic spices—star anise, fenugreek and Sichuan pepper—over a core of chocolate-covered cherries, wild blueberries, plum preserves, violets and earthy wafts of truffles, moss, tilled black soil and forest floor. Medium to full-bodied, beautifully balanced and packing a lot of flavor into a relatively modest package, it fills the mouth with spice and herb-laced black and blue fruit layers, supported by very ripe, very finely grained tannins and seamless freshness, finishing with epic length. This is already a show-stopping, heart-pounding beauty, but should also age incredibly! Lisa Perrotti Brown Score 97/100 Drink Dates 2022-2048

  • Robert Parker, Feb 2018, Score: 97/100

    This vintage is a blend of 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, matured in 65% new oak barrels. Medium to deep garnet-purple, the 2015 Smith Haut Lafitte has a totally dazzling nose of exotic spices—star anise, fenugreek and Sichuan pepper—over a core of chocolate-covered cherries, wild blueberries, plum preserves, violets and earthy wafts of truffles, moss, tilled black soil and forest floor. Medium to full-bodied, beautifully balanced and packing a lot of flavor into a relatively modest package, it fills the mouth with spice and herb-laced black and blue fruit layers, supported by very ripe, very finely grained tannins and seamless freshness, finishing with epic length. This is already a show-stopping, heart-pounding beauty, but should also age incredibly! Lisa Perrotti Brown Score 97/100 Drink Dates 2022-2048

  • Wine Advocate, February 2018, Score: 97

    This vintage is a blend of 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, matured in 65% new oak barrels. Medium to deep garnet-purple, the 2015 Smith Haut Lafitte has a totally dazzling nose of exotic spices—star anise, fenugreek and Sichuan pepper—over a core of chocolate-covered cherries, wild blueberries, plum preserves, violets and earthy wafts of truffles, moss, tilled black soil and forest floor. Medium to full-bodied, beautifully balanced and packing a lot of flavor into a relatively modest package, it fills the mouth with spice and herb-laced black and blue fruit layers, supported by very ripe, very finely grained tannins and seamless freshness, finishing with epic length. This is already a show-stopping, heart-pounding beauty, but should also age incredibly! 97/100. Drink 2022-2048

  • James Suckling, April 2016, Score: 97-98

    This is a very polished and precise young wine with beautiful depth and intensity. Full and sexy. It shows blueberry and black currant character with walnut and chocolate undertones. The tannins have a lovely texture. Joy to taste.

  • Decanter, April 2016, Score: 96

    63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot. Organic. A wonderful wine of great impact and rich, grippy tannins but the density imperceptibly lightens towards the finish so you are left with the impression of freshness even though the liquorice, black cherry and cassis flavour persists. Smith Haut Lafitte has clearly stopped chasing the ripest fruit, instead going for the most aromatic, at perfect phenolic maturity. 3.7pH, 65% new oak.

  • Matthew Jukes, April 2016, Score: 17.5+

    (63 Cabernet Sauvignon, 33 Merlot, 2 Cabernet Franc, 2 Petit Verdot) | 65% new oak. Dark and meaty initially, with power and richness, this is tempered by subtle tannins and serious length. The oak is epic and this heightens the fruit immeasurably. This is a very successful Smith Haut Lafitte and it is a wine which will start to drink sooner than expected but also live for longer than hoped for, too.

  • Jancis Robinson, April 2016, Score: 18

    New black label to celebrate the Cathiards' anniversary and that of the property. Very dark. Comfortable base and lots of perfume. Round and sweet. Tense and tight. An excitingly taut package that promises well. Drink 2024-2040

  • Tim Atkin, May 2016, Score: 96

    Right up there with the best Left Bank reds in 2015, this is the latest in a line of impressive releases from Smith-Haut-Lafitte. Grassy, aromatic and herbal, with blueberry and blackcurrant sweetness, tangy acidity and a core of serious, well integrated tannin embellished by stylish, perfumed oak. Drink: 2025-35

Producer

Château Smith Haut Lafitte

Equally known for its red and white wines, Smith Haut Lafitte is particularly notable for producingclean, concentrated and consistent wines - qualities which have enabled it to be one of the mostpopular châteaux in the Graves region.

Region

Pessac-Léognan

Stretching from the rather unglamorous southern suburbs of Bordeaux, for 50 km along the left bank of the river Garonne, lies Graves. Named for its gravelly soil, a relic of Ice Age glaciers, this is the birthplace of claret, despatched from the Middle Ages onwards from the nearby quayside to England in vast quantities. It can feel as though Bordeaux is just about red wines, but some sensational white wines are produced in this area from a blend of sauvignon blanc, Semillon and, occasionally, muscadelle grapes, often fermented and aged in barrel. In particular, Domaine de Chevalier is renowned for its superbly complex whites, which continue to develop in bottle over decades. A premium appellation, Pessac-Leognan, was created in 1987 for the most prestigious terroirs within Graves. These are soils with exceptional drainage, made up of gravel terraces built up in layers over many millennia, and consequently thrive in mediocre vintages but are less likely to perform well in hotter years. These wines were appraised and graded in their own classification system in 1953 and updated in 1959, but, like the 1855 classification system, this should be regarded with caution and the wines must absolutely be assessed on their own current merits.

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