Why this vintage
- 99/100 from Jeb Dunnuckand 2 other scores above 90/100.
- The 2018 vintage in Pessac-LéognanAfter a spring marked by mildew, the heat concentrated a small crop: rich, ripe wines with great depth of material.
Critic scores
- Jeb Dunnuck99
- Wine Enthusiast97
- Vinous95
The 2018 vintage in Pessac-Léognan
Vintage benchmark: 95/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)
Vintage character: After a spring marked by mildew, the heat concentrated a small crop: rich, ripe wines with great depth of material.
Overall reading of the year’s season across Pessac-Léognan. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.
Tasting
Very deep, intense black colour. The nose is already expressive with a mix of red and black fruit (blackberry, blackcurrant, cherry, raspberry) and spices, characteristic of perfectly ripe grapes. Swirling in the glass reveals considerable complexity with delicate floral notes, sweet spices, and gunflint. The wine starts out broad-based, concentrated, and powerful on the palate. The tannin is rich without compromising on freshness, balance, and delicate flavours. The expression "an iron fist in a velvet glove" perfectly sums up this wine!
Blend of the 2018 vintage
- 60 % Cabernet Sauvignon
- 34 % Merlot
- 4 % Cabernet Franc
- 2 % Petit Verdot
Shares for this vintage, as recorded on the 2018 technical sheet. The vineyard itself is planted with 30 % merlot, 60 % cabernet sauvignon, 9 % cabernet franc, 1 % petit verdot — a vintage blend departs from the area under vine as the year dictates.
Figures from the 2018 sheet
- 48 yrsVine age
Winemaking
Whole grapes are fermented at 28°C in small wooden vats with extraction by manual punching down.
Ageing
18 months in barrels (60% are new barrels produced in our in-house cooperage). After being racked a single time, wine is aged according to its profile.
Terroir
The terroir has such a strong personality that it gave the region its name: "Les Graves". These graves are an accumulation of alluvial, sandy and stony deposits laid down on a Tertiary limestone subsoil by the turbulent rivers and glaciers of the early Quaternary era, subsequently reshaped into gravel rises by erosion. At Smith Haut Lafitte, the soil is made up of one of the rare Günzian gravel rises, thick and ochre in colour, a sign of its richness in iron oxide. This soil is of high quality for viticulture because it is at once free-draining, very poor and warm at the surface, while maintaining a degree of coolness and moisture at depth (clay or limestone).
An offer on Château Smith Haut-Lafitte 2018
Availability, allocations and terms: the Compagnie Médocaine will reply promptly. The estate and vintage are already filled in in the message.
Texts and documents 2018
The texts below copy in one click for your product sheets, catalogues and social channels. The printable sheet condenses the whole page onto a single A4 page.
Visuals
This wine’s visuals are grouped in the media library. High-definition packshots, labels, back labels and lifestyle photos are reserved for clients and partners, on the Compagnie Médocaine’s VinCod media library.
Sheet checked on September 28, 2026. Technical data: the estate’s VinCod sheets. Critic scores: sources cited above, with their date. Vintage benchmarks and character: Compagnie Médocaine’s own editorial read. Soils and relief, where shown: the Compagnie Médocaine’s parcel survey and the Mapbox/IGN terrain model.