Do we ship to you?.
Also Recommended
Picture
Product Name
Vintage
Price
Varietal
Country
Region
Appellation
Size
Additional Discount
Original Item
2009
$295.82
Red Bordeaux
France
Bordeaux
Graves
750ml
N/A
Better Price, Same Score
2010
$227.59
Red Bordeaux
France
Bordeaux
Graves
750ml
Closest Match
2019
$286.58
Red Bordeaux
France
Bordeaux
Graves
750ml
Best QPR in Price range
2010
$209.88
Red Bordeaux
France
Bordeaux
Graves
750ml
More wines available from Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte
750ml
Bottle:
$39.94
$40.70
The 2018 Le Petit Haut Lafitte Blanc is a blend of 80% Sauvignon and 20% Sémillon brought up in 50% new French oak....
750ml
Bottle:
$39.83
$42.00
94-95 A bright, salty white with dried-apple, lemon and hot-stone character. It’s full-bodied, yet vivid and tight...
750ml
Bottle:
$38.83
$40.52
The 2021 Le Petit Haut Lafitte Blanc is a stellar wine that very much captures both the style of the year and the...
750ml - 1 Bottle
Bottle:
$58.12
Gorgeous nose of sous bois, spices, chocolate, and meat follows through to a full body, with velvety tannins and a...
750ml
Bottle:
$44.94
93-95 Barrel Sample. The wine, a majority of young Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot, is structured and firm with solid...
More Details
Winery
Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte
Vintage: 2009
Despite less than ideal climatic conditions, featuring storms which threatened an otherwise perfect year, most parts of California had an excellent year for viticulture. Chardonnays and Sauvignon Blancs were picked at optimum ripeness, and Californian white wine was just about as good as it could be. Surprises and overcoming difficulties summed up much of the United States' wine industry in 2009, and many of the results from Oregon, Washington State and all over California speak for themselves, with the flagship Cabernet Sauvignon grapes having developed healthy, thick skins and thus plenty of character and distinction. Elsewhere in the New World, South Africa had a very good year in 2009, and wineries across the cape of the African continent are proclaiming it a truly great vintage.
In most of Europe, fine weather and punctual ripening periods produced some excellent wines, with many of the best coming out of France's Bordeaux and the surrounding regions. Merlot had an exceptionally good year in France, and wineries are proclaiming that the 2009 Merlot harvest was one of the best in living memory. Indeed, across most of France, ripening was relatively even, and red wine grapes such as Cabernet Franc, Syrah and others were reportedly highly characterful, with plenty of the required tannin levels with which to make high quality wines. Italy, too, had a very good 2009. Piedmont reported extremely favorable conditions throughout 2009, and their signature Nebbiolo grapes were more or less perfect when harvested, having benefited from the slight drop in temperature at the end of their ripening period. Veneto, too, had an enviable year, producing superb Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay wines in 2009.
Varietal: Red Bordeaux
There are few regions in the world with stricter regulations in regards to wine production and grape varietals than those found in Bordeaux, France. Here, in the home of the world's finest wines, the type and quality of grapes used is of utmost importance, and the legendary wineries which work on the banks of the Gironde river have mastered the careful art of juice blending to find the perfect balance for their produce. Whilst there are six 'official' Bordeaux grapes, the two key varietals for almost every fine Bordeaux wine are Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and with good reason. Whilst Cabernet Sauvignon grapes are renowned for their acidity and astringency, strong fruit and spice flavors and full body, Merlot grapes are notably rounded, soft, fleshy and lighter on tannin. The combination of these two varietals, along with a small percentage of (commonly) Petit Verdot or Cabernet Franc, is the perfect balancing act – the two grape varietals cancel out each others weaker points, and accentuate all that is good about the other.
Region: Bordeaux
Although most commonly associated with their superb blended red wines, the world-famous region of Bordeaux in France is responsible for a relatively wide array of wines, ranging from the sweet and viscous white wines of Sauternes, to the dry and acidic single variety white wines found all over the region. However, it is the red wines which regularly make the wine world's headlines, and have historically been regarded as the finest on earth. The secret to the region's success is the fact that the warm and humid climate, coupled with mineral rich clay and gravel based soils produces grapes of excellent quality. Wineries in this region have spent hundreds of years mastering the art of blending and oak aging in order to get the best results from each grape, and remain the envy of the world to this day.
Country: France
French winemakers are subjected to several laws and regulations regarding the wines they produce, and how they can be labeled and sold. Such procedures are designed to increase the overall quality of the country's produce, and also to ensure that wines made in each particular region or appellation are of a character and type which is representative of the area. Thankfully for consumers of wine world-wide, the French have a particularly high reputation to uphold, and seem to do so flawlessly. Every year, wineries from all over France produce millions upon millions of bottles of fine wine, making the most of their native grape varieties and the excellent terrain which covers most of the country. From the expensive and exquisite red wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy, to the white wines and cremants of central France, the French are dedicated to providing the world with wines of the highest quality and most distinctive character.