Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Le Petit Haut Lafitte 2018

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Le Petit Haut Lafitte is the red second wine of Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte, a Grand Cru Classe de Graves estate in Pessac-Leognan owned by Florence and Daniel Cathiard. It is crafted from the estate's younger vines, blended and aged with the same care as the Grand Vin, in the same energy-plus winemaking facilities - the entire process from vineyard to cellar mirrors that of the flagship wine. Grapes are sorted twice (before and after destemming) and fermented unpressed in vats, with color and tannin extracted by punching-down and pumping-over; maceration runs 4-6 weeks at 26-28C. The wine is aged about 14 months in oak barrels (around 20% new, produced in the estate's own in-house cooperage).