Château Smith Haut Lafitte – 2012 – Pessac Léognan Cru Classé des Graves

Quite youthful appearance here with an opaque core and still with a good purple hue indicating youth. Still youthful on the nose as well, with a hint of cassis, a slight herbal spiciness such as: sage, bay leaf, red currants and a little hint of oak and vanilla. Good gripe on the palate, very dense core actually of fruit. It appears slightly younger on the nose, but the palate is pretty forward, without any hard edges. However there is a good dose of fine tannin particularly on the finish, but I think it has really nice proportions. Juicy dark fruit there, more cassis coming back with some of those tobacco and sage notes adding freshness. The oak is finely balanced and really nice freshness on the finish. Slight hint of complexity, I mean it is still a young wine but it already is starting to display a bit more, I mean it is quite multi-layered. Long finish, good drinkability today if you like the vibrant fruit, but definitely a wine for further cellaring.

Tasted by the Best Sommelier of the World, Andreas Larsson.