Decadent and rich on the nose with lots of ripe fruit and meaty undertones. Almost truffle-like. Full body, lots of ripe tannins and plenty of fruit. Still needs time to soften. Big and juicy for the vintage. Better in 2018 but impressive now.

On the nose the oak is still noticeable, from there you move on to the truffle, smoke, black cherry and dark chocolate notes. Full bodied, concentrated, the tannins are soft, the texture is round, the fruits are sweet, but there is some oak remaining in the finish that needs to further integrate. The wine was made from blending 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. The wine reached 13.5% alcohol.

The 2008 Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte is still going strong and is a classic wine from this reference point estate in the Graves region. A blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and the rest Petit Verdot aged in 80% new barrels, it offers textbook notes of crème de cassis, cedar pencil, loamy earth, and smoked earth/cold fireplace. Concentrated, ripe, and sexy on the palate, with ripe tannins, it shows the straight, focused style of the vintage. Drink it any time over the coming 10-15 years.

This is always one of the more polished expressions of Bordeaux, and at this stage they still had their foot a little more on the pedal than they do now. It's a beautiful wine with an intensity to the cassis fruits, a signature Pessac-Léognan swirl of smoke and grilled almond, and plenty of flexibility in the tannins which allows the juice to slide on through. Drinking Window 2018 - 2030
Tasted by Jane Anson (at BI, London, 01 Jan 2018)
Part of How Bordeaux 2008 wines taste now: 70 top names rated

One of the stars of the vintage, this elegant, smoky wine has hints of barbecue pit intermixed with sweet black currants and cherries. Dark purple and medium to full-bodied, its impressive finesse and wonderful purity make for a surprisingly forward style of Smith-Haut-Lafitte to drink over the next 15 or so years.

The 2008 Smith Haut Lafitte is a lovely wine for the vintage, still quite polished on the nose with scents of blackcurrant and raspberry coulis, a touch of melted tar and tobacco; youthful for its age and showing fine vigor. With aeration there is suddenly a strong scent of liquorice. The palate is soft and rounded on the entry however, there is great depth on the mid-palate with layers of slightly toasted black fruit laced with tobacco, black pepper and smoke. I just felt there is a little dryness creeping in towards the finish, nevertheless this is a fine Pessac-Léognan. (Tasted at the château and at BI Wine & Spirit’s annual vertical tasting.) - vinous.com, February 2018

Good medium ruby. Black cherry, dark berries and licorice on the nose. Sweet but firm, with excellent concentration and medicinal reserve to the dark berry flavors. An elegant, ripe, smooth wine with a lovely mounting finish featuring suave tannins. No rough edges or austerity here--in fact this is downright creamy in the mid-palate--but this has plenty of structure for a graceful evolution in bottle.

This expressive red shows intensity with grace, balancing pure black cherry, mineral and tobacco flavors with toasty oak and fresh acidity. The tannins are firm but ripe, fading to a floral, smoky finish. Drink now through 2018. 6,665 cases made. (TM)

Dark garnet and attractively mellow on the nose with a suggestion of mint but none of underripeness. The tannins are there but are not insistent and there's an attractive velvetiness of texture with some freshness too. Long. Very classic middle-ground (not too ripe and not too skinny) claret.