Winemaker Notes
A very aromatic notes with a lovely basket of yellow and white fruits, offering a beautiful sensation of freshness. Then, a great complexity unfolds with delicate notes of acacia flower, lime blossom, and charmingly spicy notes. The palate entry is quite surprising with its great freshness combined with a beautiful creaminess. The first impression on the palate is that of freshness, followed by the full expression of maturity, creaminess and richness brought by the perfect ripening of the grapes. The palate is wide, powerful but always supported by a refreshing acidic bone.
Blend: 90% Sauvignon Blanc, 5% Semillon, 5% Sauvignon Gris
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Checking in as 90% Sauvignon Blanc, 5% Sauvignon Gris, and 5% Semillon, the 2023 Château Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc is just gorgeous, offering white peach, honeyed orange, brioche, mint, and chalky minerality on the nose. It's medium to full-bodied on the palate and has bright acidity, a lively, elegant mouthfeel, and a great, salty finish that makes you salivate.
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James Suckling
Aromas of sliced apples, Asian pears, crushed stones and hints of lemon blossoms, honeysuckle and lime zest. Medium- to full-bodied with such energy and purity, and just the right hints of cream, yogurt and cooked apples. Tense and flavorful, with a phenolic touch at the end and a salty undertone. Impressive balance. Weightless and long. 90% sauvignon blanc, 5% sauvignon gris and 5% semillon. From biodynamically grown grapes. Drink or hold.
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Vinous
The 2023 Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc was picked from August 23 to September 9 at 36hL/ha and matured in 50% new oak. It has a reticent bouquet at first, requiring a few swirls of the glass to reveal touches of orange pith, peach skin, wild fennel and light pressed white flower scents. The palate is very well balanced with a lovely creamy texture, counterbalanced by the taut line of acidity. Very poised and focused, it's somehow almost Corton-Charlemagne-inspired on the finish (perhaps due to the umami). This is a seriously fine white Pessac-Léognan. –Neal Martin
Barrel Sample: 95-97 -
Decanter
Strong aromatics, on the expressive side with herbal accents, spiced wood, green apple, quince, apricot, mango, peach honeycomb and elderflower. Very floral. Fresh and expansive, mineral and direct, but a good body full of fruit, freshness and honey characters. Definitely more opulent and exotic than the others in the range with hints of tropical fruit - pineapple and mango but also some lovely bitterness which adds tension to balance it out. A good combination, more vibrancy and energy than in previous years. Succulent and sumptuous with salinity. Very good and very easy to drink. Ageing 50% new oak.
Barrel Sample: 96 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of 90% Sauvignon Blanc and 5% each Sauvignon Gris and Sémillon, the 2023 Blanc from Smith Haut Lafitte reveals aromas of white fruits, spices, confit citrus and spring flowers. Medium- to full-bodied, layered and dense, it is built around a fleshy core of fruit framed by lively acidity and a refined, gastronomic bitterness that brings precision to the finish.
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Wine Spectator
This is rather alluring, with creamed Jonagold apple, pear and yuzu notes flowing through with a caressing feel, as sweetened butter, honeysuckle and chamomile fill in liberally on the finish. Not shy with its toast, but there’s underlying tension that makes this sneakily long. Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon and Sauvignon Gris.
Sometimes light and crisp, other times rich and creamy, Bordeaux White Blends typically consist of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. Often, a small amount of Muscadelle or Sauvignon Gris is included for added intrigue. Popularized in Bordeaux, the blend is often mimicked throughout the New World. Somm Secret—Sauternes and Barsac are usually reserved for dessert, but they can be served before, during or after a meal. Try these sweet wines as an aperitif with jamón ibérico, oysters with a spicy mignonette or during dinner alongside hearty Alsatian sausage.
Recognized for its superior reds as well as whites, Pessac-Léognan on the Left Bank claims classified growths for both—making it quite unique in comparison to its neighboring Médoc properties.
Pessac’s Chateau Haut-Brion, the only first growth located outside of the Médoc, is said to have been the first to conceptualize fine red wine in Bordeaux back in the late 1600s. The estate, along with its high-esteemed neighbors, La Mission Haut-Brion, Les Carmes Haut-Brion, Pique-Caillou and Chateau Pape-Clément are today all but enveloped by the city of Bordeaux. The rest of the vineyards of Pessac-Léognan are in clearings of heavily forested area or abutting dense suburbs.
Arid sand and gravel on top of clay and limestone make the area unique and conducive to growing Sémillon and Sauvignon blanc as well as the grapes in the usual Left Bank red recipe: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and miniscule percentages of Petit Verdot and Malbec.
The best reds will show great force and finesse with inky blue and black fruit, mushroom, forest, tobacco, iodine and a smooth and intriguing texture.
Its best whites show complexity, longevity and no lack of exotic twists on citrus, tropical and stone fruit with pronounced floral and spice characteristics.