Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Rouge 2004
Bordeaux Red Blends
from Pessac-Leognan, France - Bordeaux
winemaker's notes:
The Merlot were intensely colored and concentrated, with good structure and volume. The bouquet features fresh, ripe fruit (raspberries, cherries, blackberries), with spicy, liquorice overtones.
The Cabernet Sauvignon express all their aromatic freshness in a powerful, rich structure, redolent of fresh red-berry fruit, with floral and flinty overtones.
And finally, the Cabernet Franc is concentrated yet lively, featuring red-berry fruit with hints of spice.
The Smith Haut Lafitte red 2004 blend is based on a majority of Cabernet wines, and shows promise of
being a great wine: concentrated and powerful, with good backbone, a lovely, silky texture, and a fresh, complex bouquet of ripe red-berry fruit, with spicy, liquorice, violet, and flint overtones.
2004 is truly a successful vintage for good grape-growers.
critical acclaim:
"A sensational effort and one of the stars of the vintage, Smith-Haut-Lafitte's 2004 possesses an inky/blue/purple-tinged color as well as a sumptuous nose of lead pencil shavings, spring flowers, blueberries, and blackberries. Surprisingly full-bodied for the vintage with stunning concentration, purity, and overall harmony, this is another brilliant wine from the proprietors, the Cathiards, who have done such a spectacular job at this estate since the early 1990s. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2022."
93 Points
The Wine Advocate
"Deep red. Roasted red fruits, smoked meat, tobacco and a note of truffle on the expressive nose. Sweet and rather primary, with classic Pessac-Leognan flavors of iron, woodsmoke, hot stones and tobacco. Broad and smooth for the year, if not quite as dense as the young 2006. Finishes with lovely ripe tannins and lingering sweetness. This will offer early pleasure."
90 Points
International Wine Cellar
"Lots of blackberry, spice and tobacco on the nose, with hints of cigar box. Full-bodied, with soft, round tannins and a dark chocolate and fruit aftertaste. Balanced and caressing. Best after 2009. 8,330 cases made.
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90 Points
Wine Spectator