Blanc, Pessac-Léognan, Château Smith Haut Lafitte 2021
James Suckling 98-99 (2025); Vinous 96-98 (2025); Decanter 96 (2025); Jancis Robinson MW 17++/20 (2025)
Mix any six bottles and you pay the Any 6+ price at checkout — no code needed.
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Why this wine
One of the benchmark dry whites of Bordeaux, grown on a single organically certified block of Günz gravel and fermented entirely in barrel. 2021 leans fresh and classic rather than opulent, which suits this wine's flinty, mineral register better than a hot year would. It drinks beautifully young and holds for a decade or more.
At a glance
- Grape
- Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris
- Region
- Bordeaux, France
- Alcohol
- 14.00%
- Body
- Full
- Acidity
- High
- Sweetness
- Dry
- Drink
- Long (10-20 yrs)
- Pairs with
- Seafood, Poultry & Pork, Rich & Creamy Dishes
How it tastes
Delicate citrus and white flowers unfurl into ripe stone fruit and a flinty, smoky complexity. Full in weight and smooth in texture from its time in barrel and on lees, but enlivened by crisp acidity and a refreshing mineral finish. Sauvignon Blanc and Sauvignon Gris.
The producer
Château Smith Haut Lafitte is a Grand Cru Classé de Graves owned by Florence and Daniel Cathiard since 1990, certified organic since 2019 and working biodynamically for close to a decade, with herbs grown on the estate and applied to the vines on horseback. Its 80 hectares form a single contiguous block of Günz gravel in the heart of Pessac-Léognan; the soil drains so sharply that roots reach more than six metres down for water and mineral salts, while the stones throw sunlight back into the canopy and push ripening on. Oenologist Fabien Teitgen, named Winemaker of the Year by the Guide Hachette in 2021, oversaw a harvest hand-picked from 38-year-old vines into small crates, pressed in an oxygen-free environment to protect the aromatics, cold-settled, then fermented in French oak barrels — half new, half one vintage old — and matured 12 months on its lees in barrel. The 2021 growing season was mixed through spring and early summer before warm, dry August weather with light rain rescued it, leaving a classic, fresh style.
Food and drinking
Serve at 10–12°C. Turbot, scallops, roast chicken with tarragon or a mature Comté all suit it. Drinking now and worth keeping for a decade or more.