Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte - Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte blanc 2020

Jeb Dunnuck: "Lastly, and pure perfection in white wine, the 2020 Château Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc is based on 90% Sauvignon Blanc, 5% Sauvignon Gris and 5% Semillon that was aged in 50% new oak. This massively rich, concentrated, powerful white offers a heavenly nose of honeyed flowers, orange marmalade, lemon grass, and toasted bread, with a building sense of salinity and minerality that shows on the finish. Drink this stunningly rich, layered, concentrated 2020 over the coming two decades."

Weinwisser: "Delikates Bouquet, frische Nektarine, gelbe Rose, geriebene weiße Mandel und Grapefruit. Am energiegeladenen Gaumen mit cremiger Textur, salzigem Extrakt und tänzerischer Rasse. Im gebündelt feinaromatischen Finale Mandarinenzeste, Mirabelle und erkalteter Grüntee. Grandiose Leistung."

James Suckling: "Aromas of grapefruit, melon, ripe apple, and lemon. Lots of lemon curd as well. Full and layered with plenty of fine phenolics. Energetic and vivid. Minerally and lightly chewy at the end. From organic grapes. 90% sauvignon blanc, 5% sauvignon gris and 5% semillon."

Wine Enthusiast: "Barrel Sample. This is a beautiful white wine in its balance and in its elegantly textured fruit and acidity. With richness balanced by the wine's crisp green fruits, there is complexity and depth here that gives the wine great intensity. For long-term aging."

Decanter: "Butterscotch, vanilla, a soft honeyed caramel, lemon and orange notes with green apple. Quite bitter straight away, the lemon and orange rind and grapefruit juice elements all to the fore alongside a hit of bright, lemon juice acidity. Then it settles, almost closes, or narrows into a funnel, quite tight and sleek, definite tension there, but there's power and structure still with elegance. It's not giving, generous and approachable right now but this has been well made - really focused and polished. Body, freshness and structure with lovely hints of minerality and such a wide aerial, aerated finish. It's serious - this is bold but with something so special about it. Ageing 50% new oak, 50% one year old barrels, 12 months with three months in vats before bottling."

The Wine Cellar Insider: "Rich, lush and creamy, with an alluring bouquet of honeysuckle, lemon rind, white peach, vanilla, and honeyed lemon peel, this is going to be simply fabulous on release, providing pleasure for over a decade. Drink from 2023-2034."

The Wine Advocate: "A strong effort, the 2020 Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc wafts from the glass with aromas of nectarine, pear, lemongrass, Sauvignon botanicals, toasted bread and baking spices. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and layered, it's rich and concentrated, with ripe acids and chalky structuring extract. It's not quite as vibrant and precise as the 2019, but it's a success nonetheless."

Falstaff: "Helles Gelbgrün, silberfarbene Reflexe. Frische Limette, ein Hauch von Minze, weiße Tropenfrucht, florale Nuancen. Saftig, zart nach Pfefferminze, weißer Apfel, dezente Säurestruktur, zitronig-salzig im Abgang, mineralisch und gut anhaftend, individueller Stil."

Jancis Robinson: "Richer and more spicy on the nose than Le Petit Smith Haut Lafitte 2021. The oak showing in a mealy creaminess. Deep and complex in both texture and sour-citrus leesy flavour. Intense and so fresh. Great length, chewy finish."