Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc 2018

Dry Whites

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Tasting Notes
Dried apple, apricot, grapefruit zest, flint and a hint of hay on the nose. It’s full-bodied with crisp acidity and tight, concentrated layers of fresh and dried fruit. Incredible depth and focus. Even better from 2022. Score: 98 James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com Maturity: 2022+ 03 February 2022
This is very dense and deep with glorious fruit and a creamy textured, very long finish. A superb young white. Energetic yet textured. Lots of sliced-lemon, lime and apple character with some cream. Top. Score: 97 - 98 James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com 11 April 2019
The 2018 Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc has clearly opened up in the 12 months since it was bottled. It has a really gorgeous bouquet of honeysuckle, orange blossom, nectarine and white chocolate aromas, the oak playing a supporting role. The focused palate delivers well-judged acidity, good depth, and flavors of tinned pineapple, clementine and touches of peach, maybe less malic than it showed out of barrel. It sports very good length, although it will clearly benefit from a couple of years in bottle. Score: 94 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2022-40 01 March 2021
The 2018 Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc was taken directly from tank. According to winemaker Fabien Teitgen it will be bottled in December 2019, a sufficient time to obtain the definition he seeks. It has a tightly wound bouquet that feels very closed at the moment, touches of pressed white flowers intermingling with granite and green apple scents. The palate is very well balanced with fine definition. This feels saline in the mouth with quite penetrating acidity (pH 3.15), a white Pessac-Léognan that gets the saliva flowing, with a pretty green apple and dried apricot finish. Very promising. Score: 92 - 94 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2022-2040 01 November 2019
The grand vin is the 2018 Château Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc, which is mostly Sauvignon Blanc with 5% each of Sémillon and Sauvignon Gris, that’s being brought up in 50% new French oak. Deeper, richer, yet still racy and vibrant, it has gorgeous notes of tart pineapple, crushed citrus, salty minerality, and white flowers. Rich, concentrated, medium to full-bodied, it's unquestionably one of the whites of the vintage. Score: 96 - 98 Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com 01 May 2019
The Smith Haut Lafitte 2018 Blanc is composed of 90% Sauvignon Blanc, 5% Sémillon and 5% Sauvignon Gris, aging in 50% new oak barriques. It features intense scents of lime leaves, pink grapefruit, white peaches and green mango with hints of yuzu, lemon meringue pie, crushed rocks and coriander seed. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is laden with energetic citrus and stone fruit layers, with a satiny texture and bold freshness, finishing long and mineral laced. Score: 94 - 96 Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com 23 April 2019
The 2018 Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc is gorgeous. One of the more pure, crystalline wines of the year, the Blanc is airy, lifted and very pretty. Time in the glass brings out attractive textural richness and creaminess in the lemon peel, floral and mint notes, with light tropical overtones that develop on the finish. In 2018, the Blanc is a wine of real brilliance and class. Tasted two times Score: 91 - 94 Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com 01 April 2019
You can feel a touch more ripeness here than in some years but they have beautifully captured flavours of fleshy yellow pears, freshly cut herbs and some slate and saline minerality. This should manage a long life and I am surprised here, as with a few whites this year, by the grip and sense of fun in the wine. It's not quite the 2017 again, but has its own claim for attention. 50% new oak. Harvested 24 August to 17 September, by far the longest ever at SHL. Technical director Fabien Teitgen said he started picking early because he was worried about losing acidity, but found it was actually much better than expected. 28hl/ha yield. Score: 94 Jane Anson, Decanter.com Maturity: 2022-2036 30 March 2019
Already very full in feel, with alluring tangerine, verbena, orange blossom, bitter almond and brioche notes. Long and lush, this is coming together in a hurry and is set to be one of the showier wines of the vintage. Score: 94 - 97 James Molesworth, Wine Spectator 29 March 2019

Tasting Notes

Dried apple, apricot, grapefruit zest, flint and a hint of hay on the nose. It’s full-bodied with crisp acidity and tight, concentrated layers of fresh and dried fruit. Incredible depth and focus. Even better from 2022.

Score: 98

James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com Maturity: 2022+ 03 February 2022

This is very dense and deep with glorious fruit and a creamy textured, very long finish. A superb young white. Energetic yet textured. Lots of sliced-lemon, lime and apple character with some cream. Top.

Score: 97 - 98

James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com 11 April 2019

The 2018 Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc has clearly opened up in the 12 months since it was bottled. It has a really gorgeous bouquet of honeysuckle, orange blossom, nectarine and white chocolate aromas, the oak playing a supporting role. The focused palate delivers well-judged acidity, good depth, and flavors of tinned pineapple, clementine and touches of peach, maybe less malic than it showed out of barrel. It sports very good length, although it will clearly benefit from a couple of years in bottle.

Score: 94

Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2022-40 01 March 2021

The 2018 Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc was taken directly from tank. According to winemaker Fabien Teitgen it will be bottled in December 2019, a sufficient time to obtain the definition he seeks. It has a tightly wound bouquet that feels very closed at the moment, touches of pressed white flowers intermingling with granite and green apple scents. The palate is very well balanced with fine definition. This feels saline in the mouth with quite penetrating acidity (pH 3.15), a white Pessac-Léognan that gets the saliva flowing, with a pretty green apple and dried apricot finish. Very promising.

Score: 92 - 94

Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2022-2040 01 November 2019

The grand vin is the 2018 Château Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc, which is mostly Sauvignon Blanc with 5% each of Sémillon and Sauvignon Gris, that’s being brought up in 50% new French oak. Deeper, richer, yet still racy and vibrant, it has gorgeous notes of tart pineapple, crushed citrus, salty minerality, and white flowers. Rich, concentrated, medium to full-bodied, it's unquestionably one of the whites of the vintage.

Score: 96 - 98

Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com 01 May 2019

The Smith Haut Lafitte 2018 Blanc is composed of 90% Sauvignon Blanc, 5% Sémillon and 5% Sauvignon Gris, aging in 50% new oak barriques. It features intense scents of lime leaves, pink grapefruit, white peaches and green mango with hints of yuzu, lemon meringue pie, crushed rocks and coriander seed. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is laden with energetic citrus and stone fruit layers, with a satiny texture and bold freshness, finishing long and mineral laced.

Score: 94 - 96

Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com 23 April 2019

The 2018 Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc is gorgeous. One of the more pure, crystalline wines of the year, the Blanc is airy, lifted and very pretty. Time in the glass brings out attractive textural richness and creaminess in the lemon peel, floral and mint notes, with light tropical overtones that develop on the finish. In 2018, the Blanc is a wine of real brilliance and class. Tasted two times

Score: 91 - 94

Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com 01 April 2019

You can feel a touch more ripeness here than in some years but they have beautifully captured flavours of fleshy yellow pears, freshly cut herbs and some slate and saline minerality. This should manage a long life and I am surprised here, as with a few whites this year, by the grip and sense of fun in the wine. It's not quite the 2017 again, but has its own claim for attention. 50% new oak. Harvested 24 August to 17 September, by far the longest ever at SHL. Technical director Fabien Teitgen said he started picking early because he was worried about losing acidity, but found it was actually much better than expected. 28hl/ha yield.

Score: 94

Jane Anson, Decanter.com Maturity: 2022-2036 30 March 2019

Already very full in feel, with alluring tangerine, verbena, orange blossom, bitter almond and brioche notes. Long and lush, this is coming together in a hurry and is set to be one of the showier wines of the vintage.

Score: 94 - 97

James Molesworth, Wine Spectator 29 March 2019

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