Château Smith Haut Lafitte Information

Château Smith Haut Lafitte is a Bordeaux wine from the Pessac-Léognan appellation, ranked among the Grands Crus Classés for red wine in the Classification of Graves wine of 1953 and 1959. The winery and vineyards are located south of the city of Bordeaux, in the commune of Martillac. The estate originates in the 14th century with the house of Verrier Du Boscq who planted vines on a gravelly plateau named Lafitte already in 1365. In 1720 it was bought by the Scotsman Georges Smith who added his name to the lieu-dit (English: place-name), and who built the manor house of the property. The Louis Eschenauer company bought estate in 1958, after having already distributed the wine from the early 20th century. In 1990, Daniel Cathiard fell in love with the property and joined the list of prestigious owners, firmly intending to further enhance Smith Haut Lafitte's tradition of excellence. He combined the most modern winemaking techniques and age-old methods: organic compost, small wooden vats, ageing on the lees in barrel, etc. The vineyard area consists of 67 hectares (170 acres), 56 hectares of which are planted with grape varieties of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. The remaining 11 hectares are cultivated with white varieties of 90% Sauvignon blanc, 5% Sémillon and 5% Sauvignon gris. Our philosophy can be summarised in one sentence : to do our utmost so that everey vintage of our red and white wines reflects the full potential of our magnificent terroir. Our efforts range from increasingly organic vineyard management and slow natural fermentation of the grapes to ageing the wine in superb underground cellars and serving it to wine lovers in appropriate tasting room.