Le Petit Smith Haut Lafitte 2021

This has a gorgeously sappy, mouthwatering finish, that really makes you want to pick up a glass. Rosebuds and redcurrant, delicate tannins, Cabernet focused highlighting the savoury, elegant side of the grape, with a cassis bud and liquorice finish. 25% new oak. Offers great drinking over next decade.

Gains substance from red currant and black cherry fruit notes, while savory and potpourri hints add range. This wine's acidity is less overt than most of its colleagues, resulting in some pleasant energy through the finish as well. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Drink now through 2027. Tasted twice, with consistent notes. 6,000 cases made, 1,500 cases imported.

A herbal, blackcurrant-scented nose. Lively and tangy, this has bite and grip, a little more closed and tight compared to Les Hauts which is more expressive and charming, but this has great precision to the dark fruit and fine tannins. Almost creamy in texture, but with tension and grip from the flint and wet-stone edges. A serious take, but it works so well, really in keeping with the vintage, nothing over the top. Juicy and mouthwatering with crunchy black fruit, balanced acidity, fine tannins and a chalky, salty, gravel-like finish. I like this a lot; it's calm and controlled but with an underlying confidence. Great potential. Dense and more tannic for sure. Needs time to open and relax.

This has very pretty cabernet aromas of blackcurrants and iodine with cloves, stone and just a hint of fresh herbs. Medium-bodied with a firmness and freshness on the palate, leading to a linear and racy finish with plenty of energy. Crunchy. 60% cabernet sauvignon and 40% merlot. From organically grown grapes.

The 2021 Le Petit Smith Haut Lafitte clearly has greater fruit intensity on the nose, mainly black fruit with touches of loam and white pepper. The oak here is very well integrated. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins and notable salinity, closing with a cohesive and persistent finish. There’s plenty of freshness here, but this will need two or three years in bottle. It should drink well for 12 to 15 years.

Oyster shell, smoke, currants, cherries and tobacco leaves create the perfume. On the palate, the wine is fresh, elegant, vibrant and chewy, with a nice, spicy edge to the crisp, savory red berries in the mid-palate that carry all the way through to the mildly salty finish. The wine blends 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot. Drink from 2024-2036.

Intense ruby, purple shades to a narrow, bright rim. Fine herbal savoriness, discreet cherry fruit, still somewhat restrained bouquet. Medium-bodied, red cherries, well-integrated tannins, clear structure, fine savoriness and a slight saltiness on the finish; a good food wine.

More Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated, the 2021 Le Petit Smith Haut Lafitte is a 60/40 split of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and it's another medium-bodied, pretty, elegant, impressive wine from this team. Cassis, redcurrants, tobacco leaf, and a hint of leather all shine here, and it's focused and nicely structured on the palate, with fine tannins and a great finish. Where the Les Hauts de Smith is up-front and ready to go, this is going to benefit from at least 2-3 years in the cellar.

60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot. Delicate bouquet, ripe red currant, sour cherry juice, juniper and tarragon. On the compact palate, a supple texture, grainy extract, taut focus, nervy raciness, tightly knit tannin framework, austere body. In the concentrated finish, well structured, red-berry contours and a finely sandy astringency. A serious second wine!

A blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot, Le Petit Smith Haut Lafitte Rouge 2021 has a medium to deep garnet-purple color. It needs a little swirling to coax out notes of fresh redcurrants and plums, giving way to hints of rose bud tea, dried bay leaves, and cedar chest. The light to medium-bodied palate is tight-knit and refreshing, with delicate red berry flavors and a lingering herbal lift on the finish.

Composed mainly of Cabernet Sauvignon, this wine offers a clear, refined nose of purple fruits and spring flowers (hyacinth, peony), promising lovely juiciness. Pure, supple, and caressing on the palate, it is a real delight, with perfectly ripe fruit that is both crunchy and creamy, and an enticing finish, with a noble bitterness that builds over time. A complex wine.

The nose is fruity, fresh and offers a certain racy power, with lovely intensity (in finesse). It reveals notes of pulpy boysenberry, strawberry and, more subtly, fairly ripe red berries, racy minerality, a discreet hint of violet, as well as fine touches of nutmeg, vanilla, cherry blossom, an imperceptible iodized hint, graphite and star anise. The palate is beautifully juicy, fresh, mineral and balanced, offering lovely juiciness, freshness, a crystalline edge, good definition and a certain tension. On the palate, the wine expresses notes of vibrant raspberry and cherry and, more slightly, fresh blackberry, together with touches of fresh violet and cherry blossom, as well as fine hints of toast, mocha, a discreet hint of coffee, varietal notes, fresh blond tobacco and a subtle touch of vanilla. A delicate sweetness on the finish/persistence.

Beautiful deep, sustained red. Very aromatic nose with ripe, subtle fruit, whose smoky character evokes Pessac. Delicate on entry, refined in texture, with plenty of flavor through the mid-palate, the wine melts into an elegant, juicy, silky profile, even noble on the finish. A touch of delicacy. It’s very good. Blend: 60% cabernet sauvignon, 40% merlot. Alcohol: 13% – pH: 3.7. Yield: 22 hl/ha. No saignée.