Bordeaux 2019–2022 compared

A royal visit to the Smith Haut Lafitte barrel cellar

A small selection of mostly red bordeaux from four recent vintages. Pictured above, a recent royal visit at Château Smith Haut Lafitte, which was one of the stars of this tasting. Photo by Samir Hussein.

Stephan von Neipperg, dapper as always but without his trademark jumper draped across his shoulders (‘It’s on the back of the chair’, he told me), had the biggest array of wines on show at a tasting in London earlier this month: four vintages of his Castillon property Ch d’Aiguilhe, and four each for his three St-Émilion estates Clos de l’Oratoire, Canon La Gaffelière and La...