2020 Smith Haut Lafitte Les Hauts de Smith
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Tasting notes
Revealing aromas of plums, cherries and burning embers, the 2020 Les Hauts de Smith is medium to full-bodied, fleshy and vibrant, with a sweet core of fruit framed by powdery structuring tannins. As usual, this Merlot-dominant bottling offers charming drinking on release.
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Neal Martin
Neal Martin
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The Merlot-dominated 2020 Les Hauts De Smith (there's 40% Cabernet Sauvignon) is a beauty offering classic Graves-like aromas of gravelly earth, smoked tobacco, and woodsmoke as well as plenty of ripe, perfumed red and black fruits. This medium to full-bodied, plush, sexy Pessac-Léognan is perfect for drinking over the coming decade.
The 2020 Les Hauts de Smith has a perfumed bouquet with predominantly red berry fruit interlaced with rose petal and iris flower, well-defined with undergrowth scents that emerge with time. The palate is medium-bodied with taut, edgy tannins, fresh and quite saline with a brisk, quite minerally finish. This is a delightful, tensile Pessac-Léognan that will age well over the next 15 years.
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.