CHATEAU Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc 2017
CHATEAU Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc 2017. Created during the blending process of Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte, Les Hauts de Smith is vinified and aged with the same care as the Grand Vin. From the vineyard to the cellar, all the production techniques are identical. Yield: 30 hl/ha, before production was divided into three wines: Château Smith Haut Lafitte, Les Hauts de Smith, and Le Petit Haut
Lafitte.
Blend: 90% Sauvignon Blanc
5% Sauvignon Gris
5% Semillon
The grapes are hand-picked into small crates and pressed in an oxygen-free environment using inert gas to retain the grapes’ aromatic potential, followed by fermentation in French oak barrels (50% new oak) and cold settling.
Aging: 12 months on the lees with bâtonnage (lees stirring) in barrels (50% new + 50% previously used for one vintage) from our own on-site cooperage.
In 2014, each month was surprising in terms of weather conditions: mild rainy winter, cool May, warm humid June, cool humid July, cool dry August and finally a superb Indian summer in September/October. It was sometimes stressful, often demanding but it revealed the potential of our Bio Precision work to cope with these constraints. Deep vine roots in Gunzian gravel terroir allow slow and prefect maturations of the grapes even with changing weather over the year. After a rather early cycle until the bloom, and thanks to the freshness of summer we started the harvest from the 24th of September with the young vines of Merlot.
The beautiful Indian summer allowed us until October to harvest the great Merlot, the Petit Verdot and the Cabernet Sauvignon to finish with the Cabernet Franc on October 18th.
This unexpected Indian permitting to reach full maturity. Chateau Les Hauts de Smith 2015, Blended from Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, Pessac-Léognan wines are beautifully balanced with fine-grained structured tannins, and exhibit classic notes of tobacco, cassis, dark cherry, leather and tar, as well as a distinctive minerality. Some of the best wines are described as smoky and have hints of truffle. Located within the wider Graves appellation in Bordeaux’s Left Bank, Pessac-Léognan boasts the region’s best soils; the resulting wines have excellent aging potential. Pessac-Léognan also makes whites from Sauvignon Blanc and Sèmillon.
