Le Petit Smith Haut Lafitte

History

The history of Château Smith Haut Lafitte goes back to 1365, when the noble house of Bosq chose this terroir to run a vineyard. Then in the 18th century the Scotsman George Smith bought the estate, gave it his name, built the Chartreuse and exported the already famous barrels to England on his ships. In 1842, Mr. Duffour-Dubergier, mayor of Bordeaux but also a passionate winegrower, inherited Château Smith Haut Lafitte from his mother and turned it into a Grand Cru. At the beginning of the century the House of Louis Eschenauer realized the exceptional quality of this wine and ensured its distribution, finally buying the property in 1958. Since that time, major investments have been made, including the construction of a superb underground cellar that can raise more than 1,000 barrels at the same time. In 1990, Daniel Cathiard fell in love with the vineyard and joined the prestigious line of owners with the firm intention of continuing to enhance the value of this noble cru: his constant search for excellence led him to harmoniously handle the most modern winemaking techniques with traditional methods: living soil, organic compost, a return to small oak vats, ageing on lees in barrels… Without a doubt, the exemplary elegance of the red wines of Smith Haut Lafitte deserves this daily care.

Terroir

The terroir of Château Smith Haut Lafitte is located on a hilltop, 67 hectares of which are planted with vines and covered with “Gunziennes” graves which offers two astonishing particularities: a natural drainage of the soil which forces the roots of the vines to fetch water and mineral salts at a depth of several meters, and a “mirror effect” of the sun, which, by reflecting on the pebbles composing the graves, helps the grapes to ripen and blossom. The average age of the vines is 38 years. The grape varieties are 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Concerned about quality, the same green operations are carried out for the whites and reds, to prepare the vines and bunches for the harvest: disbudding, de-budding, leaf thinning. The harvest is done by hand, in the Sauternes style, by successive sorting, picking only the bunches of grapes at good maturity, leaving the others to finish their maturation. The bunches are then delicately pressed with inert pneumatic presses. During this pressing the bunches and the juice are protected from oxidation by an inert gas (nitrogen) thus preserving all the aromatic potential and the color of the juice of the grapes. The juice flows by gravity to stainless steel tanks at 8 degrees for a settling of 24 hours. Natural fermentation then begins in barrels. They generally last from 8 to 20 days. The ageing on total lees lasts 10 to 12 months, with a proportion of 50% new barrels.

The great particularity of Château Smith Haut Lafitte, beyond its fabulous wines, lies in its commitment to the preservation of our ecosystem and the biodiversity of the vineyard. Thus, in addition to state-of-the-art and environmentally friendly growing and winemaking techniques (organic homemade compost, implantation of hedges, forest, beehives, horse vine work, drones, or the Normalized Difference Vegetive Index (NDVI) which allows the detection of row heterogeneities…), Château Smith Haut Lafitte works according to the circular economy model. This new economic, ecological, local and societal model, on the fringe of the breathtaking “extract-manufacture-consumer-dispose” linear system, is practiced with the aim of producing an exceptional wine. The property limits the consumption and waste of raw materials and non-renewable energy resources, transforms waste into recycled raw materials, and reflects on the eco-design of its products. The stealthy wine storehouse is a perfect example of this. This new investment is completely blind to environmental radars and must produce its own energy, without emitting CO2.

Tasting

The Petit Haut Lafitte red 2018 is extremely fine with silky tannins and beautiful Cabernet Sauvignon aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied with notes of blackcurrant, licorice and dark chocolate. Great finesse and structure offering good ageing potential.

Their Team

Owners: Florence, Daniel CATHIARD and Alice TOURBIER CATHIARD
Commercial Director: Ludovic FRADIN
Technical Director: Fabien TEIGEN