I would like to start with the background of our winery. Its birth traces to the
14th century with the house Verrier Du Boscq, who planted vines on a gravelly land
named Lafitte already in 1365. In 1720, it was bought by the Scotsman George Smith,
who added his surname to the place-name and built the manor house of the property.
In 1990, Daniel and Florence Cathiard fell in love with Château Smith Haut Lafitte,
which they acquired with the firm intention of perpetuating its tradition of excellence.
After three years spent renovating the estate, the Cathiards came to live there in
order to devote themselves to overseeing winegrowing, with the help of a talented and
motivated team.
The vineyard area consists of 67 hectares (170 acres), 56 hectares of which are
planted with red grape varieties and the remaining 11 hectares are cultivated with white
varieties.
The production of the estate compiles around 120,000 bottles of red (67 ha) and
30,000 bottles of white wines (11 ha). The mastery of great wine creation comes from
the perfect alliance between the vine and its grapes growing land. The team uses
knowledge received from the in-depth study of the Château’s vineyard to adapt the
vine culture to the characteristics of the soil. This allows them to pair each variety of
vine growing techniques with the best-suited type of the soil.
We do all we can to enhance microbial life by using our own organic compost.
This natural fertilization process improves the quality of the soil and protects its
vitality. We also protect the soil by planting hedges and trees, and installing beehives
on the estate. At Château Smith Haut Lafitte, traditional viticulture techniques are
implemented, such as earthing-up the vines or horse-ploughing the fragile white wine
plots. There are already 8 horses for the vineyard in the Château’s stable to plough the
white wine vineyard’s fragile slopes. The use of chemical products is totally prohibited,
and organic methods are favored to fight the various dangers that threaten the vine.
At Château Smith Haut Lafitte, the grapes are harvested manually and carried in
small specially designed 7 to 9 kilos crates. The grapes thus go directly from the
picker’s hand to the vat room’s sorting table, unbruised and in perfect condition.
Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte is one of the few farms in Bordeaux that owns its
own cooperage. Oak from the best French forests is used for barrels. For 17 years, the
permanent cooper has been making three packs a day here using old technologies.
Château Smith Haut Lafitte constantly uses new technologies, such as tests with
drones and the satellite imagery, to better monitor the vine growing cycle and the
ripening of the grapes all year long.
Apart from the wines, Château Smith Haut Lafitte produces its own young vines
thanks to its nursery and its own rootstocks from its mother vine planted on the La
Lande island. As a result of it we not only produce one of the most astonishing wine,
but also look after and restore fragile varieties of vineyards.
Daniel responded with this: “You can’t separate emotion and technology.
Emotions can be impaired by technology and a perfect wine is boring if it lacks that
special chemistry between the soul and the grapes.”