59% cabernet sauvignon 30% merlot 10% cabernet franc and 1% petit verdot from 67 hectares. This is aged for 18 months in 60% new barrels. Known as the "quintessential Graves" wine Smith-Haut-Lafitte comes from one block of gravel soil and has been owned by the Cathiard family since 1990. They use horse-drawn ploughs maintain their own cooperage and use compost and plant extracts to treat the vineyards with organic methods. The color is a shiny translucent red. Perfumed aromas are dominated with mineral aromas. Soft on entry with a lovely salinity flavors of spice show up on the mid-palate ending in a tarry finish. Medium body with good texture. Tasted four times. Enjoy 2017-2030.

A wine that has a beautiful depth of fruit, with currants, minerals and dried flowers on the nose and palate. It’s full-bodied, with super-integrated tannins that last for minutes. This is muscular yet polished. Extremely well done for the vintage. Better in 2017.

(92-94 points) From an assemblage of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and a drop of Petit Verdot, the wine will be aged in 60% new oak. This is a deep, dark-colored Pessac Leognan with a perfume offering licorice, coffee, earth and jammy black raspberry. Rich, full-bodied, plush and intense, the wine ends with a fresh, long, floral and sweet finish with spice, espresso and black cherry. Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/search-wine-tasting-notes/?szSearch=2011%20Smith%20Haut%20Lafitte

(NM92-94 points) The Smith Haut Lafitte is a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon 36% Merlot and 8% Cabernet Franc aged in 60% new oak. The harvest (for the red) was between 15th September and finishing with the Cabernet Sauvignon and 30th September and it represents 39% of the crop. It has a lifted bouquet with ripe blackberry cassis black olive and fruits de mer with fine delineation. With continued aeration there is just a hint of violet. The palate is beautiful very dense and concentrated with superb delineation and wonderful purity and minerality towards the finish. It is very long in the mouth. Excellent. N.B. This does not include the full vin de presse.

94+ The grand vin, the 2011 Smith-Haut-Lafitte is another great successes (and that’s saying something after the remarkable duo of 2009 and 2010 as well as the brilliant 2008). This wine exhibits a dense purple color along with a big, sweet nose of creme de cassis, mulberries, licorice and subtle background oak. Full-bodied with silky tannins, nicely integrated acidity, wood and alcohol, a multilayered mouthfeel, and a finish that lasts 45 seconds, this brilliant wine should drink well for 15-20 years. - Robert Parker

93+ The 2011 Smith Haut Lafitte plays in the same ballpark as the 2014, yet is slightly more concentrated, as well as backward. Blackcurrants, cedar, licorice and hints of oak all emerge from this medium to full-bodied, elegant, impeccably balanced beauty. It needs another year or two and will shine for over a decade.

Lush fig, boysenberry and blackberry pâte de fruit notes are interspersed with lively anise, singed apple wood and fruitcake details. A tarry echo hangs in the background on the finish. Shows impressive depth and ripeness for the vintage. Best from 2015 through 2025. – JM

The 2011 Smith Haut-Lafitte has a light leafy bouquet with touches of tobacco and cedar, though it needs to show more vigour. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins, fresh on the entry, cohesive with more red fruit laced with white pepper and tobacco towards its appealing finish. Fine. Tasted blind at the annual 10-Year-On tasting. -- Neal Martin