Grands crus atlas
Area under vine at the estate, from its technical sheet — it does not change from one vintage to the next. Each vintage’s blend, by contrast, departs from it: that figures on its own page.
Relief exaggerated ×6 · elevation 20 to 51 m · average slope 2.7°
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Footprint, parcels and their split are measured on the Compagnie Médocaine’s own parcel survey; elevation, slope and aspect on the Mapbox terrain-rgb digital terrain model, derived from IGN’s RGE ALTI over France. Compare with the blend on the technical sheet, at the top of the page: the two answer different questions.
The exemplary elegance of the red wines of Smith Haut Lafitte is renowned throughout the world.
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).
Alcohol, yield and vine age are those of the 2025 vintage; they vary from year to year. Only the area above stays stable from one vintage to the next.
| Vintage | Best score | Vintage character | Technical sheet |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 97-99 Jeb Dunnuck | A dry, bright summer, tempered by cool nights, gave pure, balanced wines, more classic than sun-drenched. | fiche · PDF |
| 2024 | 97-98 James Suckling | A rainy spring and a difficult flowering reduced the crop; the dry October saved fine, light, easy-drinking wines. | fiche · PDF |
| 2023 | 98 James Suckling | July mildew followed by a hot September demanded strict selection: fleshy, aromatic wines, more approachable than 2022. | — |
| 2020 | 99-100 James Suckling | An early, hot year, with a harvest under pressure: a dense, juicy classic, ripe without heaviness. | fiche · PDF |
| 2019 | 98 Jeb Dunnuck | A hot end of summer after a rainy spring gave wines that hold ripeness and freshness together; the cabernets shine here. | fiche · PDF |
| 2014 | — | A gloomy summer redeemed by an Indian summer: the cabernets are radiant and the freshness is true to the Médoc. | fiche · PDF |
| 2013 | — | Coulure, mildew, then rain during the harvest: a light vintage, ready to drink. | fiche · PDF |
| 2012 | — | A late cycle closing with rain gave an uneven vintage: the cabernets hold up, the merlots remain taut. | fiche · PDF |
| 2011 | — | A scorching spring followed by a wet August turned the seasons upside down: classic wines, shorter but true to type. | fiche · PDF |
| 2010 | 100 Jeb Dunnuck | A dry summer and cool nights concentrated small berries: a benchmark vintage, with dense tannins and a thirty-year aging potential. | fiche · PDF |
| 2009 | — | A sun-drenched season from start to finish gave opulent, fleshy wines, immediately appealing yet built for the cellar. | fiche · PDF |
| 2008 | — | A bright late season saved a cool summer: wines of unexpected freshness and aromatic precision. | fiche · PDF |
| 2007 | — | A cool, wet summer demanded strict selection: light, delicious wines, to be drunk young. | fiche · PDF |
| 2006 | — | Rain at véraison followed by a dry September gave classic, balanced wines with fine freshness, without the density of 2005. | fiche · PDF |
| 2005 | — | Drought without any halt in ripening, together with cool nights, gave a legendary vintage: concentrated, with firm tannins and very long aging potential. | fiche · PDF |
| 2004 | — | High yields and a dry September gave a classic, unexaggerated vintage, straightforward, now at its peak. | fiche · PDF |
| 2003 | — | The historic heatwave halted ripening in young vines: very ripe, low-acid wines, at their best in Saint-Estèphe, where the clays held on to freshness. | fiche · PDF |
“Best score”: the highest score recorded for this wine, with its source. “Character”: the overall reading of the year across the appellation, which an estate may depart from.
Availability, allocations and terms: the Compagnie Médocaine will reply promptly. The estate and vintage are already filled in in the message.
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.
For this vintage, the media library contains: packshots. 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 21, 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.
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