2001 Château Smith Haut Lafitte- France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (5/25/2020)
Initially popped and poured, and there was not much there. It was objectively thin. It perked up a bit with dinner (homemade burgers), but was still mostLy nondescript. Towards the end of the meal it started to find its stride. The fruit deepened, earthy and spicy tones emerged, and the oak (which has always been more than necessary) finally faded into the background. Two hours in, and a full bodied, balanced, complex Bordeaux finally emerged. Hints of tobacco and cedar joined the fruit and spice. Still with more than sufficient fruit for further aging, and ample structure to support it. A wine that has been up and down, moving from ultra-modern to more classic and back depending on the day, is currently in the somewhat modern, but still recognizably Bordeaux state.
I really like this producer. More from medium and lesser vintages than from the big vintages, I think.
David does a good job describing their style, which seems to straddle modern and traditional and maybe wobble between them depending on the vintage and the age.
I think if you can get past the idea of typicity, it’s just really good wine, and relatively good QPR for middle tier Bordeaux.
Last 1/3 of the bottle was still very good on night two.
As for typicity, I would give it a 7.5/10. There’s more oak than I prefer, but oak has always been part of Bordeaux. Still tastes like a Bordeaux under that.
In addition to the heavy oak, as I recall, they were using reverse osmosis then to concentrate the wine. (I have notes from a visit in 2001, but not with me.)