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Château Smith Haut Lafitte 2006

Château Smith Haut Lafitte, Bordeaux, France

Château Smith Haut Lafitte
Bordeaux France
  • 93
    Points
  • The 1 477 best
    of 3 290 954
    wines globally
  • 6 Pros of
    6 recommend
    this wine
363 93
  • Taste
  • Moment

  • Country ranking ?

    1 283

  • Producer ranking ?

    55

  • Decanting time

    2h

  • When to drink

    2020-2035

  • Food Pairing

    Beef

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The Story

Each Château has its own style.  / What would be, according to you, the specificities of Château Smith Haut Lafitte Red?

The style of our red wine is very classic, with a beautiful expression of our terroir of Günzian Gravel which gives unique smoky notes. We pursue elegance and structure, freshness and complexity, balance and richness.
Our majority of Cabernet Sauvignon, harvested at full maturity and softly vinified to extract only the s...

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Tasting note

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Written Notes

Magnum. Blackish crimson with pale rim. The start of a period (until 2011) when Cabernet Sauvignon constituted at least 60% of the blend. Quite an opulent nose. Sweet start and very winning. Luscious and polished. A little bit more ripe than racy in this vintage. Good grip on the end. Still youthful.

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  • 90p
2006 weather characteristics and harvest The vintage 2006 begins with a rather cold and dry winter. After the memorable drought in the previous year, the lack of water is worrying. The important showers of March (150mm), without reconstituting all the hydric reserves of the soils, gave enough water to the vines to grow normally. The vegetation started to grow as usual, around the end of March. The relative dryness during April and June did not bother the vegetal development of the vines, which installed nice foliage and pretty early flowering, end of May for early varieties such as merlot and sauvignon blanc, beginning of June for later varieties. The superb weather we had in July did boost the cycle of the vines and the véraison (colour change) could start around July 19th, especially on parcels of merlot and sauvignon blanc. Cabernet sauvignon did follow naturally a bit later. The more capricious weather of August made the véraison for some cabernet sauvignons last until mid-august. These particular conditions affected the advance of maturity gained in July, making us expecting to harvest mid-September, which quite normal, despite we thought at the beginning of the summer that we could harvest earlier, around the end of august. The critical condition at the end of August did affect more our morale than the vineyard itself. The very nice terroir of Smith Haut Lafitte, very well aerated, nicely exposed and naturally drained, allows us to wait with no worries for the “Indian summer”, once the fears are gone, thanks to the North and East winds that dry efficiently. The harvest of Merlot did start the 20th September and gave some very nice and encouraging juices, with, depending on plots and their exposure to the sun, some potential degrees around 14°! Cabernet Sauvignons, with their thick skins and their berries not too swollen thanks to the very draining terroir of Smith Haut Lafitte, invited us to be more patient, with a certain guaranty against the bad weather. The nice phenolic maturities reached by the fruits enabled us to finish the harvest on Saturday September 30th, just before the storm which happened on October 3rd.
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Ruby, seems to be closing up, at least more closed than last time I tried it, more herbs and less minerals. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, long and elegant finish, needs time. 91
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  • 91p
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Information

Origin

Martillac, Bordeaux

Other wines from this producer

Château Cantelys

Château Cantelys blanc

Château Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc

Château Smith Haut Lafitte, Casher

Hauts de Smith Blanc

Le Petit Haut Lafitte

Le Petit Haut Lafitte Blanc

Les Hauts de Smith

Les Hauts de Smith rouge

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