| Search: (advanced) |
External search
Google (images)
Wine Advocate
Wine Spectator
Intl. Wine Cellar
BurgHound
WineZap
Vinquire
Wine-Searcher
Vintages
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993
1990
1989
1988
1987
Show more
From this producer
Show all wines
All tasting notes
| Home | All Cellars | Tasting Notes | Reports | Users | Help | Member Sign In |
1998 Château Smith Haut Lafitte |
| Vintage | 1998 |  Label 1 of 18   | |
| Type | Red | ||
| Producer | Château Smith Haut Lafitte (web) | ||
| Variety | Red Bordeaux Blend | ||
| Designation | n/a | ||
| Vineyard | n/a | ||
| Country | France | ||
| Region | Bordeaux | ||
| SubRegion | Graves | ||
| Appellation | Pessac-Léognan |
| Community Tasting History |
Community Tasting Notes (average 91.5 pts. and median of 92 pts. in 59 notes) | |
| Tasted by Finare Vinare on 11/5/2009 & rated 93 points: (230 views) | |
| Tasted by Rechrom on 10/4/2009 & rated 90 points: Nice dark fruit graphite nose, good depth, good length. No special, but very solid. (569 views) | |
| Tasted by coyote on 9/1/2009 & rated 92 points: (514 views) | |
| Tasted by Fielding on 8/30/2009 & rated 92 points: Decanted two hours. When the bottle was first opened, blue fruits dominated the nose. After an hour in the decanter, strong coffee notes emerged. Nose of blue fruits, coffee, pipe tobacco and chocolate. Boysenberry and espresso on the palate, with scorched earth and cedar. Silky texture, with plenty of unresolved tannins. Lots of life left (717 views) | |
| Tasted by WST on 8/6/2009 & rated 90 points: Double-decanted. Still quite young. Solid and enjoyable; liked more by the rest of the group. Dark berries, smoke, and a little tobacco. Tannins were pretty prominent on its own, less so when the steaks arrived. (848 views) | |
| Tasted by geodeemoore on 8/1/2009 & rated 92 points: (673 views) | |
| Tasted by dbkitc on 7/26/2009 & rated 91 points: Didn’t have quite the depth or richness of past bottles….still a lovely wine. (91) (852 views) | |
| Tasted by Deryl on 7/5/2009 & rated 92 points: (872 views) | |
| Tasted by spacewrangler on 6/21/2009 & rated 90 points: Young still, but nice soft coffee/espresso notes and some cocoa/dark chocolate. (1116 views) | |
| Tasted by GintsO on 5/31/2009 & rated 92 points: A pure pleasure to drink this wine! Fully mature, with silky texture. Wow! (1296 views) | |
| Tasted by dbkitc on 4/20/2009 & rated 93 points: Stunning, pure Bordeaux with a slightly modern feel. Gained with 30 minutes of air. Refined, classic Graves flavors with a touch of lusciousness. In all a superior example that is perfect to consume now (allowing proper air time). Couldn’t hope for more from this wine. (93) (1536 views) | |
| Tasted by VoteferPedro on 4/19/2009 & rated 90 points: decanted and followed for 3 hours eye: brick with pinkish rim nose: multilayered, with scorched earth, high toned flowers, camphor tongue: smooth tannin, nice fruit, medium long finish overall very enjoyable, but it seemed to turn a bit hard and acidic later in the evening (1505 views) | |
| Tasted by mimik on 3/27/2009 & rated 93 points: Montreal Wine Guy Weekend a la Quebecoise; 3/27/2009-3/28/2009 (Wentworth North-Vinaigre's brother's cottage): Nose of barnyard, mushrooms, pencil shavings and dark plums. Palate is tightly wound up, with blackberry notes. Still needs time but shows it has an elegant core underneath. Very fine. (1407 views) | |
| Tasted by DoubleD1969 on 3/20/2009 & rated 93 points: Can't find my detailed notes from this evening other than the impression of being very balanced and offering a lot more fruit and cedar than last tasted last year. Sorry I can't be more descriptive. (1581 views) | |
| Tasted by vasnobs on 2/23/2009: Typical Bordeaux, earth under tones with nice tannins. Wine has aged beautiflly (1667 views) | |
| Tasted by PBreeze on 12/25/2008 & rated 88 points: Very closed right out of the bottle. Opened up a bit with time in a decanter while we tasted other wines ('96 Mouton and "89 Lafite.) Still disappointed a bit. Not enough flavor. It was like it was right on the edge - tempting but not fulfilling. Could have probably used more time in bottle; certainly could have used more time in decanter. Wish I had another to try about five years down the road. (1697 views) | |
| Tasted by Tubbs on 11/30/2008: still kind of primary and rough, a little disappointing at this stage. Keep for 5 more years with fingers crossed. (1901 views) | |
| Tasted by tacman on 10/24/2008 & rated 87 points: (1575 views) | |
| Tasted by Spencer on 8/24/2008 & rated 93 points: Fully mature now. Balanced, complex, elegant, pure. Classic Graves. (2008 views) | |
| Tasted by Siggy on 7/30/2008 & rated 90 points: Tasting Group Dinner - Graves (Heidi's, Minneapolis): Much younger and oakier than the 98 LMHB, tasted side-by-side (see TN). Complex smoke, earth, and cassis flavors. Tannic finish. Quite a bit of oak left to integrate. (2229 views) | |
| Tasted by Icarus on 7/30/2008: Tasted side-by-side with the 1998 LMHB, and really no contest to my tastes. The nose gives pleasant dark fruit and oak that seems more primary and youthful than LMHB. The taste gives a healthy dose of smoky dark fruit that also shows a bit of oak in addition to sweet tannin. Should be a nice bottle of wine, but definitely needs additional years of bottle age. (2026 views) | |
| Tasted by Francofiel on 7/20/2008 & rated 87 points: Deep colour with edges turning brown. Reticent nose with pencil shavings, some black fruits and little else. Lean taste with a few unresolved tannins, some Graves silkiness. A less then perfect bottle? Or is the fruit receding, and time to drink up? the next bottle will tell ... (2110 views) | |
| Tasted by ting_rob on 7/9/2008 & rated 89 points: Expected a little more. Was not as rich and new world as I had heard (would still guess new blind). A little muted. Medium plus length. I would say drink now - will hold but not improve. (2335 views) | |
| Tasted by MichelBesner on 6/9/2008 & rated 95 points: Wow, I wished i had bought more of these babies ... Superb aromas of crushed berries with a nice toastiness. Nice and smooth finish ... (2672 views) | |
| Tasted by MichelBesner on 6/9/2008 & rated 95 points: Wow, I wished i had bought more of these babies ... Superb aromas of crushed berries with a nice toastiness. Nice and smooth finish ... (2638 views) | |
| Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| CellarTracker Wiki Articles (login to edit | view all articles) |
| Producer website
About red wine The variety Red Bordeaux Blend on CellarTracker implies any blend using any or all of the five traditional Bordeaux varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec. As such, this is used worldwide, whether for wines from Bordeaux, Meritages from California and Canada, some Super-Tuscan wines etc. Vins de France (Office National Interprofessionnel des Vins ) | Pages Vins, Directory of French Winegrowers | French Wine (Wikipedia) Vins Bordeaux (Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux) | Simple Bordeaux primer Vins de Graves (Conseil des Vins de Graves) |
© 2003-09 CellarTracker! LLC. All rights reserved. "CellarTracker!" is a trademark of CellarTracker! LLC. No part of this website may be used, reproduced or distributed without the prior written permission of CellarTracker! LLC. (CellarTracker! Terms and Conditions. Version 3.11.0) - Follow us on Twitter
