Smith Haut Lafitte, Pessac-Léognan, 2009 (Magnum)

Seller description

The temperatures of the 2009 vintage are close to 2005 and the rainfall to 2000. Two good references on these crucial points for the maturation! Indeed, the summer was relatively dry with very nice sunny days and cool nights. The precise viticultural work, the balance between soil and plant, the deep rooting of the vines led to a stop of growth on July 20th and to a beautiful and long maturation of the grapes. Using satellite photography, we produced a maturity map of the grapes for a new organization of the harvest by picking homogeneous areas in maturity. Associated with two new technologies (de-stemming by vibration and optical sorting of the grapes) we were able to optimize our extractions and gain strongly in precision. The harvest started on September 25th with the young Merlot vines and ended on October 14th with the Cabernet Franc. The first qualitative impressions of the grape tastings were quickly confirmed with black wines, dense with powerful, very complex and elegant aromatic expressions of red fruits, black fruits, spices, aromatic herbs, cedar, licorice, clove, graphite... The mouth confirms this complexity by revealing a powerful, rich, generous wine with a nice balance and a good freshness. The wine is dense, powerful without any concession with a finesse, an incredible smoothness of tannins and a very beautiful length. We find the aromatic complexity of the nose with a superb bouquet of red fruits, spices (clove, licorice, cinnamon), notes of graphite, gunflint, violet ... Smith Haut Lafitte red 2009 is a rare combination of power, richness associated with an exceptional elegance and delicacy of tannins. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)