2023 Le Petit Haut Lafitte

The 2023 Le Petit Smith Haut Lafitte is super elegant and precise. Blue-toned fruit, graphite, dried herbs, crushed rocks, gravel, incense, licorice and crème de cassis are nicely amplified. Strong savory and mineral Cabernet notes build through the mid-palate and into the resonant, expressive finish. This is a striking wine in its peer group, and it should be a fine value, too.

The 2023 Le Petit Smith Haut Lafitte has a higher-toned, more vibrant bouquet than the Les Hauts de Smith: black cherries mixed with iodine and potpourri scents. The oak is neatly integrated here. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins, cohesive and very Pessac in style with a touch of flint and brine. Maybe there is not the persistence of the previous finish, but still a lovely wine that might mature better in bottle than you might presuppose.

This is full of gentle cardamom and cumin spices, with white flower aromatics that builds and expands through the palate, totally delicious, with definite structure and grip, touch of bitterness on the finish. this is a single point upscore from En Primeur reflecting that this is a serious white. Harvest August 23 through to September 9. 50% new oak for ageing, 36hl/h yields.