Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Graves Pessac Leognan Bordeaux Wine

Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte, Pessac Leognan, Bordeaux wine producer profile, with wine tasting notes, wine ratings, a history of the property, information on wine making and terroir, along with wine tasting reviews. If you want to read about other important, Bordeaux Chateaux: Links to all Bordeaux Wine Producer Profiles

Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte has a long history in Bordeaux that dates back over 800 year! The estate started out life as part of the Du Boscq holdings in the Graves region. It was Du Boscq who planted vines in 1365 on a gravelly plateau called Lafitte. Which is where the first part of the famous chateau took its name from. Jumping ahead a few hundred years, George Smith bought the Pessac Leognan Bordeaux wine estate in 1720. Smith added his name to the property which we now know of as Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte.

Today, Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte is owned and managed by Daniel and Florence Cathiard. The Cathiard’s purchased the Bordeaux wine estate in 1990. They bought the estate from a well known Bordeaux negociant and importer to America, Louis Eschenauer. According to Daniel Cathiard, there were numerous estates in Bordeaux for sale at the time. But a big part of the reason they purchased Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte had to do with the fact that Smith Haut Lafitte is one of the few Bordeaux wine estates producing both red and white wines. The Cathiard’s are both champion skiers who competed in the Olympics. They made their original fortune by creating a large chain of sporting goods stores.

The property features a world class spa, Les Sources de Caudalie. They specialize in Vinotherapie, which uses grape extracts in many of their products and treatmeants. www.caudalie.com

Prior to the arrival of the Cathiard family, the Bordeaux estate of Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte was not known for producing high quality wine. It took a decade, but starting in 2000, the wines started to show a lot of improvement with further jumps in quality in 2005, 2008 and again in 2009, and in my eyes, once again 2010!

One of the first changes the Cathiard’s did once they took over Smith Haut Lafitte was to stop the practice of mechanical harvesting. In its place, they started handpicking their fruit at harvest. To avoid oxidization, the freshly picked grapes are placed in small 20-25 kg trays. Specially designed ergonomic hods hold these trays until they are brought to the trailer.

The unique system of ergonomic hods developed by Daniel Cathiard is based on a design used by sherpas in the Himalayas. These unique hods allow the fruit to avoid breaking their skins before they arrive at the reception center for vinification. Sorting is a major part of the work that takes place at Smith Haut Lafitte. During picking, an initial sorting takes place. A second manual sorting is done after destemming on a sorting table. This removes the vast majority of vegetable or unwanted material that was not caught in the previous sorting. Smith Haut Lafitte also goes one step further and uses optical sorting technology. These multiple levels of sorting seriously reduce the effective yields, making sure the wine is made from their best grapes.

At Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte, they strive to stay on top of the latest technology available for Bordeaux wine makers. With the 2009 harvest, they were one of the first properties embracing the use of Oenoview satelitte imagery system to assist in finding the perfect moment to begin harvesting their Pessac Leognan vineyards. They also make use of the latest optical sorting technology. These efforts coupled with an outstanding vintage, allowed the chateau to produce their finest wine to date in 2009.

The 67 hectare Bordeau wine vineyard of Smith Haut Lafitte is allocated to 56 hectares of vines for making red Bordeaux wine and 11 hectares for producing white Bordeaux wine. The terroir consists of deep gravel soils with the top surface covered in smaller pebbles. The vineyard is planted to 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot for the red wine. The average age of the vines is close to 30 years of age. They have old vines which are close to 65 years of age. The vines are planted to a vine density of 9,000 vines per hectare.

For the white wine of Smith Haut Lafitte, the property is planted to 90% Sauvignon Blanc, 5% Sauvignon Gris and 5% Semillon. On average, the vines are 38 years of age. For the white wines, they have old vines that are 60 years of age. The vine density ranges from 7,500 vines per hectare to 10,000 vines per hectare.

For the vinification of the red wine for Smith Haut Lafitte, after pre fermentation cold maceration, whole berry fermentation takes place in 30 large, temperature controlled, oak vats that range in size from 60 hectoliters up to 120 hectoliters. Malolactic fermentation takes place in a combination of oak barrels and vat. All wine is moved by gravity in the cellars of Smith Haut Lafitte. The wine ages on its lees for the first few months of aging. The red Bordeaux wine of Smith Haut Lafitte is aged in an average of 60% to 70% new, French oak barrels for between 16 to 18 months. All the oak barrels are made at Smith Haut Lafitte, as they have their own cooperage.

The white wine of Smith Haut Lafitte is fermented in barrel and they are aged in 50% new French oak barrels for close to 12 months. On average 10,000 cases of Smith Haut Lafitte red wine are produced each vintage. For the white wine, production is closer to 2,500 cases.

They make two second wines. The blends are what differentiates the wines. Les Hauts de Smith is produced from an average blend of 55% Merlot and 45% Cabernet Sauvignon. Le Petit Haut Lafitte is made from an average blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon and 45% Merlot. Le Petit Haut Lafitte is made for export. The Cathiard family also owns Chateau Cantelys, which is located close to Smith Haut Lafitte in Pessac Leognan.

In July 2011, Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte purchased a majority of the vineyard property belonging to the neighboring estate, Chateau Le Thil. Out of the 42.5 acres of vines, 28.7 acres, the chateau and 20 acres of parkland went to Smith Haut Lafitte. Much of that land is located next to Smith Haut Lafitte and was actually part of the original estate that was owned by Lodi Duffour Dubergier. In essence, this reunited the original vineyards. Le Thil belonged to his nephew, from whom the de Laitre family is descended. The remaining vineyard land was sold to Les Carmes Haut Brion.

www.smith-haut-lafitte.com