Château Smith Haut Lafitte· Pessac-Léognan

Florence and Daniel Cathiard came to wine from the worlds of sport and retail, and bought Smith Haut Lafitte in 1990 with an outsider's willingness to question everything. Three decades on, the estate they rebuilt, cooperage on site, an early and serious turn to organic and biodynamic farming, is one of the most complete addresses in Pessac-Léognan.

What I admire here is that they make both colours at the highest level. The rouge is a graphite-and-cedar Graves of genuine balance; the blanc, in a year like 2019, is outstanding, citrus, smoke, a chalky finish that lingers. Few properties in Bordeaux ask you to choose so little.

The whites are made in small quantity and move quickly, so I tend to ration them. The 2020 rouge is the one I would lay down.