Château Smith Haut Lafitte, Le Petit Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc, 2025
Château Smith Haut Lafitte, Le Petit Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc, 2025
- 75cl
- 13.5%
- White Still
- Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon
- Organic
- Biodynamic
Please note, en primeur wines are not available for delivery until they arrive in the UK
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Est. delivery in 2028
Smith Haut Lafitte's second white wine brings the estate's signature precision to a more approachable price point. Made from the younger vines and parcels that don't make it into the grand vin, this Pessac-Léognan blanc still carries the DNA of one of Bordeaux's finest white wine producers.
What the critics say:
"Bright, textural, linear and marked by a fibrous, stony texture. It’s savory, saline, mouthwatering and exceptional."
"Light yellow-green, silver reflections. Somewhat restrained, fine yellow tropical fruit, a hint of blossom honey, fresh pear fruit. Balanced, silky texture, white fruit, delicate hints of peach, finesse-rich structure, mineral-salty finish, harmonious style, powerful finish, versatile and with ageing potential."
"Slightly waxy, wool, lemon and pear, caramel, lemon, honey, straw, quince. Cool and slightly creamy with a slightly vanilla peach pear aspect. I love the clarity and purity to this, it’s both slightly round and slightly streamlined thanks to the ripe fruit and crisp acidity. Clearly less dense and concentrated than past vintages although there's a soft richness and long length. I like the flavour combination, with a touch of bitterness on the very finish. Picked whites 20 August – 2 September. A yield of 18hl/ha."
The vineyards of Smith Haut Lafitte sit on the classic Graves terroir that gives the appellation its name: deep beds of Günzian gravel mixed with sand over clay subsoils. This free-draining surface layer forces vines to dig deep for water, concentrating flavours while the underlying clay provides mineral complexity. The white grape parcels benefit from slightly cooler morning conditions, preserving the acidity that makes these wines so food-friendly. This gravelly terroir imparts the characteristic mineral backbone that distinguishes Pessac-Léognan whites from their more tropical Right Bank cousins.
Pessac-Léognan was carved out of the larger Graves appellation in 1987 to recognise its superior terroir and historic reputation. Home to all the classified growths of Graves, including Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion, the appellation demands strict quality standards for both red and white wines. The whites must be made from Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, and Muscadelle, with many estates using barrel fermentation and ageing to add complexity. Unlike the fruit-forward style of Loire Sauvignon Blanc, Pessac-Léognan whites are built for the table, with mineral structure and subtle oak providing a framework for food pairing.
The 2025 Bordeaux vintage emerged from one of the most demanding growing seasons in recent memory — the earliest budbreak since 1989, June temperatures second only to 2003 since records began, and an unusually early harvest beginning in August for the whites. Conditions that should have produced heavy, overripe wines. They didn't. Decanter's Georgie Hindle, who tasted close to 200 wines ahead of the formal campaign, describes "exceptional concentration, aromatic purity and a freshness that contradicts the record-breaking heat.
The early critical consensus places 2025 stylistically between the precision of 2020 and the structure of 2016, with the brightness of 2023 — a combination that suggests a very serious vintage indeed. Yields are dramatically low, the smallest crop since 1991, with production across the Gironde running around 15% below the five-year average. The quality is here. There simply isn't very much of it.
