2016 Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc
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Tasting Notes
A dense and powerful white with wonderful depth and phenolic tension. Shows very pretty sliced-apple, lemon and pear character. Excellent finish. 90% sauvignon blanc with the rest semillon and sauvignon gris. Excellent follow-up to the 2015. Mar 2017, www.jamessuckling.com
Critic Scores
Average Score
James Suckling
Wine Spectator
More reviews and scores
Bright and engaging, with a nice crackle of fleur de sel along the edges of the salted butter, white peach and chamomile core. There's a flash of shortbread on the finish, but it hangs well back for now. Really good freshness for the vintage. Apr 2017, James Molesworth, www.winespectator.com
Heady, spicy, deep flavoured and a great exhibition of what makes excellent dry white bordeaux distinctive and delicious. Lanolin and rich lemon syrup notes but very fresh and long on the finish. Perhaps not the most intense vintage of this wine but I would happily drink this now. Apr 2017, www.jancisrobinson.com, Drink: 2017-2024
The 2016 Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc is a deep, powerful white that seems to bring together the richness of a warm vintage with the freshness and energy of a cooler year. If that sounds appealing, well, it is. The 2016 is powerful and phenolic, with terrific overall balance and tons of personality. The lemon peel, grapefruit, slate and white flower overtones are brisk and mouthwatering in the glass. The 2016 Blanc is without question one of the most promising whites of the vintage. Tasted two times. Apr 2017, www.vinous.com
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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.