Le Petit Haut Lafitte Red Bordeaux Blend

Ripe and inky, but has juiciness. Not bad, but not my type of wine.

The second wine of Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte, the 2016 Petit Haut Lafitte is a brilliant example of Pessac-Léognan from the favourable 2016 vintage.

Young and quite austere at this stage, it’s showy but oak-driven with a consistent profile of fresh, perfumed leather, cedar and spice. But the concentration of fruit is to be commended, as is the length of the finish.

This is a promising young Pessac, which improved with air and showed better on the second day - so I look forward to revisiting this in three to five years’ time.

92+

This was from Thanksgiving Eve. Not bad, not stellar.

***Second bottle. Demoted score. But still perhaps generous.

90 points

Second de smith haut lafitte tres agreable 60% Cabernet et 40% merlot Plutôt pour export

Go to wine from Bordeaux

I used the Coravin tonight for a glass of this wine. Much better than 2 years ago. Clearly a well made, full bodied wine. It could get more integrated with a couple more years, but seems fairly balanced now. Not my favorite, but not bad.

Smooth palate after decanting for 2 hours.

Super expressive, almost C9dP like nose.

Fourth wine of the week. Very good second wine - 60 Cabernet / 40 Merlot from younger vines. Brambly blackberry, cranberry, olives with tobacco notes and a smidge of graphite. Tannins are ripe and smooth. Lacks the concentration and layered complexity of the grand vin, but still very good. 2016 vintage on April 19, 2020

I wanted something more and this one gave me less. Closed. Even with extra time in the glass, it offered nothing. Maybe I should have decanted. Maybe I should have picked something else...