2014 Bordeaux #enprimeur: Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte

Château Smith Haut Lafitte is one of the great châteaux in Pessac-Léognan that proves wines from Graves can be excellent both white and red; James consistently scores both the Smith red and white around well in the 90s and often heading past 95 points. It’s a wine that rarely disappoints, and with an all-round vintage such as 2014 just round the corner on the market, it should be good news.

As James writes: “The white, mostly sauvignon blanc, shows superb richness and depth of fruit but remains lively and fresh with wonderful intensity. The red, primarily cabernet sauvignon, displays extremely polished tannins and integrated fruit. It’s about harmony in both wines.”

James is set to give his verdict on their 2014 later this week as he continues his en primeur tastings, though their commercial director, Ludovic Fradin, already seems upbeat about owners Daniel and Florence Cathiard’s 25th vintage.

“We are hopeful 2014 will offer outstanding quality for both colors. We believe our white wines this year present the profile you would expect of great whites with bright acidity, minerality, salinity and lovely complexity. Our reds wines have a beautiful tannic structure and minerality as well as the full body power of black and red fruits,” said the winemaker when interviewed by JamesSuckling.com.

Nevertheless, Fradin is quick to concede that the 2014 was far from a walk in the park. The growing season was demanding, as some winemakers have already admitted: The summer was humid and cold and for many days, and it was cloudy and wet, requiring extensive care and work in the vineyards.

It was the ensuing months of September and October that turned out to be a delight, allowing the grapes to reach their optimum maturity under the sun of an exceptional Indian summer. “This allowed us to take our time to harvest according to the degree of maturity in the grapes,” notes Fradin.

When asked if he could compare the current vintage to a previous one, Fradin remained undecided: “It’s always a difficult exercise to compare a vintage with another one. 2014 has a really strong personality and it’s showing better than the last three vintages. Its acidity, freshness, structure and tension resemble the 2010, yet it shows the density of 2008 and the consistency of 2006.”

Stay tuned as James tastes the latest vintage this week at the winery. Scores and notes for more #enprimeur wines will be released this week. 

-Natalie Wang

 


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