CHÂTEAU SMITH HAUT LAFITTE BLANC

You can feel a touch more ripeness here than in some years but they have beautifully captured flavours of fleshy yellow pears, freshly cut herbs and some slate and saline minerality. This should manage a long life and I am surprised here, as with a few whites this year, by the grip and sense of fun in the wine. It's not quite the 2017 again, but has its own claim for attention. 50% new oak. Harvested 24 August to 17 September, by far the longest ever at SHL. Technical director Fabien Teitgen said he started picking early because he was worried about losing acidity, but found it was actually much better than expected. 28hl/ha yield. Drinking range: 2022 - 2036 Rating: 94 Jane Anson, Decanter (Apr 2019)

The Smith Haut Lafitte 2018 Blanc is composed of 90% Sauvignon Blanc, 5% Sémillon and 5% Sauvignon Gris, aging in 50% new oak barriques. It features intense scents of lime leaves, pink grapefruit, white peaches and green mango with hints of yuzu, lemon meringue pie, crushed rocks and coriander seed. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is laden with energetic citrus and stone fruit layers, with a satiny texture and bold freshness, finishing long and mineral laced. Rating: 94-96 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (Apr 2019)

Lots of oak creaminess on the nose, sweetly spiced. The oak is a little dominant on the palate at the moment, yet it gives richness and depth. At this early stage there is a sweet/sour element that needs time to calm down or mesh. The lemon and grapefruit flavours are almost too intense so that the finish is just a little uncomfortable, almost spicy in its piquancy. Mouth-watering finish. Needs a lot of time. Drinking range: 2023 - 2030 Rating: 17+ Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2019)

This is very dense and deep with glorious fruit and a creamy textured, very long finish. A superb young white. Energetic yet textured. Lots of sliced-lemon, lime and apple character with some cream. Top. Rating: 97-98 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2019)

This is 90% Sauvignon Blanc and 5% each Semillon and Sauvignon Gris. They started picking on August 24th here, starting with the young vines for the second wines, then they stopped soon afterwards for one week. They then started again, to get a combination of acidity from the earlier picking, and ripeness from the latter. They finished on September 17th. The first sample tasted with the UGC showed a smoky and matchsticky nose, which was matched exactly by that tasted the following week at the château. The palate shows this same reductive note (reductive notes were not at all an uncommon finding during the primeurs), although the fruit shines through here, very pure in style, with white peach, nectarine and a gentle touch of citrus and mirabelle. The structure builds through the middle, with grippy energy in abundance, very substantial and rich in phenolics. The acidity feels more subtle than I would have liked, but it is there, with a really gentle impact. Long and grippy, but it is still showing the character of the vintage. Rating: 92-94 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2019)