Les Hauts de Smith 2019

The 2019 Les Hauts de Smith has gained quite a bit of volume in élevage. Plush and expansive in feel, Les Hauts offers a striking combination of Merlot richness complemented by Cabernet Sauvignon aromatics and structure. Dried herbs, leather, licorice, game, smoke and tobacco add layers of nuance. The 2019 should be an absolute delight in another few years' time.

Very pretty aromas of sweet berries with some violets and sweet tobacco. Full-bodied with chewy tannins, as well as crushed-stone character with lavender. Medium, juicy finish. 60% merlot and 40% cabernet sauvignon. Drink after 2024.

A Merlot-based blend, the 2019 Les Hauts de Smith offers up aromas of rich berry fruit, cherries, bay leaf and loamy soil. Medium to full-bodied, ample and velvety, it's broad and fleshy, with a ripe core of fruit, fine tannins and lively acids. Gourmand and expressive, it is drinking well on release. 2021 - 2033

The 2019 Les Hauts de Smith presents a crisp, pure nose of black plum and red currant fruit, plus subtle undergrowth and light minty aromas. The palate is harmonious on the entry with pliant tannins and gentle grip. A little firmer on the finish than last year, albeit still offering attractive clove and black pepper notes that linger on the aftertaste. Delicious.

Drinking superbly now, the Hauts de Smith shows off its high percentage of Merlot with a powerful core of ripe red fruits on both the nose and the palate. As always from the Cathiard family, this wine has a sheen to the fruit, glistening with red cherries and a little baking spice on the nose. The palate is much the same - the tannins are ripe, fine and cloaked by glossy fruit. There is a hint of milk chocolate and wood spice, giving a rounded, generous feel in both texture and flavour. A delicious drinker that offers so much pleasure for the money. Drink it over the coming 5-8 years.

This is a little more subdued than some vintages at this point of Les Hauts de Smith, there is more structure than in 2018 for example. Give it time, as it unrolls to show delicious waves of luscious cracked pepper and sappy cassis fruits, with a scrape of salinity and turmeric spice on the finish.

Gorgeous freshly-picked strawberries and blackcurrants with liquorice and mint on the nose - a lovely dark profile with some coffee touches too. The texture is pure crushed velvet, sumptuous and enveloping but with energy and focus. There’s a definite black fruit character with liquorice and a hint of meatiness, it’s powerful and fairly muscular but so well presented with an excellent overall frame. Will provide excellent early-to-medium term drinking. Drink 2024-2035.