The 2020 Smith-Haut-Lafitte, a Bordeaux Blend from the renowned Pessac Leognan sub-region in Bordeaux, France, has garnered significant acclaim from a range of professional reviewers. This red wine, produced by Smith-Haut-Lafitte, is comprised of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot. It features an alcohol content of 14.5% and is sealed with a cork.
James Suckling awarded this wine a near-perfect score, describing it as having "so much blackcurrant, graphite and iodine character" and praising its "polished yet powerful" tannins. He notes its "incredible quality" and speculates that it might be the best vintage ever from Smith-Haut-Lafitte, highlighting its organic grape cultivation (jamessuckling.com, 5/4/2021).
Decanter also lauds the 2020 vintage with a score of 98, noting its "vivid dark purple" color and "fragrant black cherries, plums, cassis and perfumed aromas." The review emphasizes the wine's "rich, round, grippy and captivating" profile and mentions its "clarity and precision," while suggesting that it is a "sleeping giant" that will benefit from additional aging (Decanter, 1/3/2023).
Jeff Leve of TheWineCellarInsider.com echoes these sentiments, giving the wine a score of 98. He describes it as having an "impressive dark hue" and notes its "richness, intensity, length and palate presence." Leve praises the wine's balance and the purity of its fruit, with a finish that lasts "over 50 seconds" (TheWineCellarInsider.com, 3/21/2023).
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate provides a score of 95, calling the 2020 vintage "more structured and introverted" compared to its predecessor. The review highlights the wine's "velvety attack" and "multidimensional mid-palate," suggesting that it will reward patience (Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 4/6/2023).
Jeb Dunnuck is particularly enthusiastic, awarding a perfect score of 100. He describes the wine as "absolutely pure gold" with "incredible aromatics of blackberries, blueberries, scorched earth, wood smoke, and acacia flowers." Dunnuck praises its "sensational levels of fruit and texture" and suggests it will evolve well over the next several decades (jebdunnuck.com, 3/29/2023).
Other notable reviews include Wine Enthusiast, which scores it 98 and emphasizes its "rich and suspended" tannins and "direct" freshness (Wine Enthusiast), and Wine Spectator, which describes it as "exotic and lush" with "well-steeped plum, boysenberry and blackberry fruit flavors" (Wine Spectator, 11/30/2022).
In summary, the 2020 Smith-Haut-Lafitte is a highly acclaimed wine known for its rich complexity, balanced tannins, and long aging potential. It is a standout vintage from a prestigious producer, praised universally for its depth and elegance.