Chateau Smith Haut Lafite Bordeaux Tasting with Special Guest Ludovic Fradin

 

“Friday 10th April 1663… Here we drank a sort of French wine, called Ho Bryan, that hath a good and most particular taste that I never met with”.

 

Samuel Pepys - The first wine critic (February 1633 –  May 1703)

 

Another year in the books and on to the 2026 season of wine tastings at Wine Watch.  Our first two events of the year are already SOLD OUT!   Our California Cult Cabernet tasting on the 16^th of the month is also SOLD out and the Joseph Phelps Insignia tasting on February 13^th is also SOLD OUT!! Looks like 2026 will be a GREAT year here at Wine Watch if the first two months are any indication.

 

We host a lot of Bordeaux wine tasting and when I heard that Ludovic Fradin from Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte was in town we put a date on the calendar and set aside the last few old bottles we have in the cellar here at the Wine Watch, the legendary 1982 and the excellent 1983 will be on the table from the Wine Watch collection. 

 

Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte is one of the best properties in Pessac Leognan and one of the most impressive Chateau in all of Bordeaux.  I will never forget my first visit during the UGC tasting in 2004.  The Daniel and Florence Cathiard could not have been more gracious hosts and both the white and the red wines at this property are amazing.   

Join us as we welcome Lodovic to South Florida, a native of Bordeaux and after a brief experience as a wine merchant, Ludovic joined the Cathiard family at Smith Haut Lafitte in 2012.  He is now deputy general manager, commercial manager and member of management committee.  The fee for this tasting which includes dinner is $275 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com. 

 

 

 

Smith Haut Lafitte Pessac Leognan Bordeaux Wine Tasting

With Special Guest Ludovic Fradin

Wednesday, January 14^th

7:30pm

 

2023 Petite Haut Lafite Blanc

2018 Le Petit Haut Lafitte Pessac Leognan

2022 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc Pessac Leognan

1982 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Rouge Pessac Leognan

1983 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Rouge Pessac Leognan

1998 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Rouge Pessac Leognan

2009 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Rouge Pessac Leognan

2014 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Rouge Pessac Leognan

2015 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Rouge Pessac Leognan

2016 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Rouge Pessac Leognan

 

Menu

Selection of Cheese and Charcuterie

Tuna Tartar with Orange, Sesame, Avocado and Nori

Duck Confit Pancake with Hoisin BBQ

Beef Shortrib Wellington with Bordeaux Mushroom Natural Sauce

Vanilla Bean Crème Brulee

 

The fee for this tasting which includes dinner is $275 + Tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.  Please let us know when you make your reservations if you have any food allergies or aversions and chefs Toni and Dani will be happy to accommodate you.

 

A bit about Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte

 

 

Graves is unique among all the wine regions of the Medoc in that its producers make both red and white wines.  When you talk to a wine collector about the wines of Bordeaux the conversation almost always goes toward the great red wines of this ancient and famous wine producing region.  The top names from Bordeaux are purchased by collectors up to two years before they will receive the wines from their local wine merchant.  Most of the white wines made in Bordeaux get very little attention or respect, however true Bordeaux aficionados know that the white wines of Graves or more specifically Pessac-Leognan are just as highly regarded as their reds and in many cases are even more expensive!

 

The Graves region is the closest one to the city of Bordeaux, it is a fairly large region stretching some 35 miles from the southern limits of the Medoc, round the west and southern outskirts of Bordeaux, past Langon, and almost to the limits of the Bordeaux region along the western bank of the Garonne to a depth of 10 to 15 miles.  The INAO produced a classification of both red and white Graves in 1953, which was revised in 1959.  It lists only thirteen red wines and eight white wines, but unlike the five-tier 1855 classification of the Haut Medoc, there is no distinction among them with the exception of Chateau Haut Brion, the only wine from Graves to be included in the 1855 classification and one of the great first growths of the Gironde. 

 

Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte is located in a single block on a gravelly rise; 55 of the 72 hectares are planted with vines.  The soil, consisting of gravel dating from the Gunz (or Nebraskan glacial) period, has two unique features.  The first is superb natural drainage which forces the vine roots to sink more than six meters into the soil to seek nourishment in the form of water and mineral salts.  The second is the "mirror effect", of the topsoil, whose pebbles reflect the sun's rays, helping the grapes to ripen beautifully.

 

The noble Bosq family started growing grapes here as early as 1365. The property was purchased in the 18th century by Scotsman George Smith, who gave the estate its present name.  He also built the manor house and exported his – by now famous – wine to England on his own ships.  Monsieur Duffour-Dubergier, Mayor of Bordeaux and an enthusiastic winegrower, inherited Château Smith Haut Lafitte from his mother in 1842 and brought the wine up to great growth status.

 

After holding a monopoly on the vineyard in terms of distribution for more than forty years, the Louis Eschenauer Company was impressed enough by Smith Haut Lafitte's excellent quality to buy the estate in 1958.  Until 1968, only red wine was produced at Smith Haut Lafitte, Eschenauer added Sauvignon Blanc to the vineyards and brought the production up to around 2,500 cases, in addition to the 17,000 cases of red wine produced annually.  Not only was the production increased at the estate during this period but there were many other improvements made to the property during the Eschenaueur period, including the construction of a superb underground cellar holding over 2,000 barrels.

 

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 traditional methods: organic compost, return to small wooden vats, ageing on the lees in barrel, etc.

 

Daniel Cathiard is perhaps best known as a former ski champion – he was a member of the French Olympic team with Jean-Claude Killy from 1965 to 1968.  After his father's death in 1970, Daniel found himself running the family's small supermarket chain.  Within 20 years, he had transformed it into the tenth largest mass distribution company in France.  At the same time, he launched and developed a chain of sporting goods shops - Go Sport - in France, Belgium, Spain, and California.

 

His met his wife Florence while on the ski team in 1965.  She worked with him managing Genty and Go Sport for ten years before launching her own advertising firm, later becoming Vice President of McCann Europe in 1985.  In 1990, Daniel and Florence sold all their business interests to buy Château Smith Haut Lafitte.  After two years of massive renovations of both the winery buildings and the 18th century manor house, they moved into the château. They live there all year round in order to devote themselves to their life's work – making great red and white wines at Smith Haut Lafitte.

 

 

All the Smith Haut Lafitte wines we have in the store on SALE!!

 

2022 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc Pessac Leognan

Price: $255.00                           Your Price: $224.40

(97 Points) This shimmers with a salted butter note that adds a flattering edge to its panoply of shortbread, singed almond, honeysuckle, lemon curd and creamed white peach flavors. Feels regal, with a long finish that deftly toes the balance between the toasted and fresh, unadorned sides of the spectrum. A rare dry white that can handle all four seasons as anything from a solo aperitif to a main course partner. Beautiful. Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon and Sauvignon Gris.  Wine Spectator

 

 

2022 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Rouge Pessac Leognan

Price: $265.50                           Your Price: $233.64

(97 Points) A real success of the vintage that manages to deliver a bold, structured, concentrated and powerful wine with real terroir signature. You get the impression it’s from a warm vintage, but I love the fact you have texture, volume and weight but keeping the finesse. Fragranced black fruit and purple floral notes with soft medicinal herbal touches on the nose. Sleek and supple, tannins make the impression with juicy blackcurrants, black cherries and strawberries. Excellent tannin definition, they’re filling, massy and round, almost plush but accented by acidity and freshness. Strong signature, you know you're in gravel with Cabernet. Juicy, clean, pure, but with bite and intensity. I love the dark savoury notes too, the cough syrup, liquorice, clove, tobacco and cigar box elements, complex and captivating. 4% press. 3.65pH 30% whole bunch Petit Verdot in the blend. Potential upsore in bottle. 1% Petit Verdot completes the blend. 60% new oak barrels.  Decanter

 

2021 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Rouge Pessac Leognan

Price: $172.50                           Your Price: $151.80

(96 Points) You might question this was a 2021 vintage, with its structure, style and charm combined with drinkability and ageability. A vibrant nose: pink roses, blackcurrants, strawberries, vanilla and milk chocolate, touches of pepper and toast. Supple, with bounce and energy, a firm frame but with a juicy, bright core of red berry fruits. Not light but not plush, dense but balanced, fun and friendly with precision and focus, as well as lots of flavour and texture.  Decanter

 

2020 Chateau Smith-Haut Lafitte Rouge Pessac Leognan

Price: $275.00                           Your Price: $242.00

(98 Points) Vivid dark purple in the glass, but a remarkable clarity too. Fragrant black cherries, plums, cassis and perfumed aromas with blueberries, balsamic touches and white pepper. Rich, round, grippy and captivating, slightly plush but also tight, where you get a soft chalky, wet stone grip with lively acidity balanced by strict and spiced liquorice-touched fruit. You feel the leanness here but it's so well defined with clarity and precision. A sleeping giant right now, definitely not yet fully expressing itself but slowly grows to a long finish. There's something so utterly seductive about this wine, it's overt, forward, upfront, confident and powerful no doubt, this will need a while before it should be opened, but it’s a shining thoroughbred. Refined and purposeful. There’s a bit of magic in this bottle. (GH)  Decanter, Review Date: 01/2023

 

 

2019 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Rouge Pessac Leognan

Price: $185.00                           Your Price: $162.80

(98 Points) Reminding me a little of the 2009, the 2019 Château Smith Haut Lafitte has a rich, powerful style in its cassis, blueberry, and black raspberry fruit as well as its chalky minerality, smoked earth, tobacco, and lead pencil shaving-like aromas and flavors. A blend of 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot, this rich, unctuously textured beauty has terrific concentration, sweet tannins, and the vintage's hallmark elegance and finesse. One of the most concentrated, powerful wines in the vintage, it needs 4-5 years of bottle age (or a healthy decant) and will evolve for 30+ years if stored properly. Not enough can be said about what proprietors Daniel and Florence Cathiard, as well as winemaker Fabien Teitgen, continue to achieve at this estate.  Jeb Dunnuck, Review Date: 04/2022

 

2018 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Rouge Pessac Leognan 6 Liter

Price: $1620.00                        Your Price: $1425.60

 

2018 Chateau Smith Laut Lafitte Rouge Pessac Leognan

Price: $195.00                           Your Price: $171.60

(99 Points) One of the more notable successes in Pessac-Léognan is this 2018 thanks to its wonderful bouquet of red cherry, spring flowers, cedar and liquorice, graphite aromas and elegant earthy notes. With building tannins, a fresh, focused texture, and a great finish, it's not for those looking for instant gratification, and I suspect it will need a solid decade or more of cellaring, but it will evolve for 50 years or more.  Decanter

 

2016 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Rouge Pessac Leognan

Price: $229.00                           Your Price: $201.52

(98 Points) Composed of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot and matured in 60% new oak for 18 months, the 2016 Smith Haut Lafitte has a very deep garnet-purple color, opening with sensuous scents of warm black cherries, blackberry pie, star anise and fragrant lilacs with hints of chocolate box, cigar box and pencil lead plus wafts of truffles and crushed rocks. Medium to full-bodied, rich and seductive, it completely fills the palate with perfumed black berry preserves and superbly plush tannins, finishing epically long and beautifully layered.-Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

 

2015 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Rouge Pessac Leognan

Price: $260.00                           Your Price: $228.80

(97 Points) This vintage is a blend of 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, matured in 65% new oak barrels. Medium to deep garnet-purple, the 2015 Smith Haut Lafitte has a totally dazzling nose of exotic spices—star anise, fenugreek and Sichuan pepper—over a core of chocolate-covered cherries, wild blueberries, plum preserves, violets and earthy wafts of truffles, moss, tilled black soil and forest floor. Medium to full-bodied, beautifully balanced and packing a lot of flavor into a relatively modest package, it fills the mouth with spice and herb-laced black and blue fruit layers, supported by very ripe, very finely grained tannins and seamless freshness, finishing with epic length. This is already a show-stopping, heart-pounding beauty, but should also age incredibly!  Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

 

2014 Chateau Smith-Haut Lafitte Rouge Pessac Leognan Magnum

Price: $389.00                           Your Price: $342.32

2014 Chateau Smith-Haut Lafitte Rouge Pessac Leognan

Price: $163.50                           Your Price: $143.88

(93 Points) The 2014 Smith-Haut-Lafitte has a fragrant mulberry and strawberry scented bouquet with cedar and subtle undergrowth scents emerging with time. There is something almost Musigny-like here (written as a complement incidentally—why not be compared to the greatest Burgundy Grand Cru?). The palate is medium-bodied with a soft and mellow opening. Quite spicy in the mouth with leather-tinged fruit on the open and inviting finish, there is something very approachable about this Smith-Haut-Lafitte, though like the 2014 Pape-Clement, it contains the substance to drink well over 10-15 years.  Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

 

2010 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Rouge Pessac Leognan

Price: $320.00                           Your Price: $281.60

(98 Points) This is an extraordinary performance once again from the Cathiard family, the proprietors of Smith-Haut-Lafitte. They think the 2010 is even better than the 2009. (I disagree, but only slightly.) This wine has laser-like definition in its an remarkable nose of a subtle charcoal fire interwoven with spring flowers, creme de cassis, blueberry liqueur and spicy wood. Full-bodied, stunningly concentrated, long, rich and moderately tannic, this wine is set for an exceptionally long life of 30-40 years but can be drunk in 5-7.

 

2009 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Rouge Pessac Leognan

Price: $512.00                           Your Price: $450.56

(100 Points) The finest wine ever made by proprietors Daniel and Florence Cathiard, the 2009 Smith-Haut-Lafitte exhibits an opaque blue/purple color in addition to a glorious nose of acacia flowers, licorice, charcoal, blueberries, black raspberries, lead pencil shavings and incense. This massive, extraordinarily rich, unctuously textured wine may be the most concentrated effort produced to date, although the 2000, 2005 and 2010 are nearly as prodigious. A gorgeous expression of Pessac-Leognan with sweet tannin, emerging charm and delicacy, and considerable power, depth, richness and authority, it should age effortlessly for 30-40+ years. Bravo!  Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

 

2005 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Rouge Pessac-Leognan

Price: $400.50                           Your Price: $352.44

(98 Points)  This sensational, opaque blue/purple-colored wine from Smith Haut Lafitte has a gorgeous floral nose with notes of graphite, blueberries, blackberries, and cassis that jump from the glass of this inky, very dense, yet strikingly pure wine. Light on its feet despite its stunning concentration and multi-layered mouthfeel, this wine has fabulous intensity, richness and length. Quite impressive, and still incredibly youthful, this is a superstar of the vintage, and capable of lasting another 25-30 years. (RP)   Review Date: 06/2015  Wine Advocate

 

1998 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Rouge Pessac Leognan

Price: $291.00                           Your Price: $256.08

(90 Points) A beautiful wine of symmetry, finesse, and elegance, this deep ruby/purple-colored offering reveals classic aromas of black currants, new wood, and scorched earth. This pure, medium-bodied, restrained, measured, graceful 1998 offers impressive overall symmetry as well as well-integrated tannin. Anticipated maturity: 2003-2018. Wine Advocate # 134, Apr 2001

 

 

Thew Second Wine of Smith Haut Lafitte:

 

 

2022 Le Petit Haut Lafitte Blanc Pessac Leognan

Price: $55.50               Your Price: $48.84

(91-93 Points) A blend of 80% Sauvignon Blanc and 20% Sémillon, the 2022 Le Petit Haut Lafitte Blanc is a solid effort, exhibiting aromas of peach, pear and smoke with flinty notes. Medium-bodied, charming and fleshy, it has racy acids, a delicate tannic sensation and a long, delicate core of fruit (lemon oil) with a penetrating finish.  Wine Advocate

 

2018 Le Petit Haut Lafitte Blanc Pessac Leognan

Price: $60.00               Your Price: $52.80

(90-92 Points) The 2018 Le Petit Haut Lafitte Blanc is made up of 80% Sauvignon Blanc and 20% Sémillon, aging in 50% new barriques. It delivers pronounced notes of green guava, mango and fresh grapefruit with hints of lime zest and orange blossom. Medium-bodied, the palate offers very good tension with a light bit of phenolic grip and wonderful vibrancy of tropical and citrus layers, finishing chalky.  Wine Advocate, Lisa Perrotti-Brown, April 23, 2019

 

 

2020 Le Petit Haut Lafitte Rouge Pessac Leognan

Price: $52.50               Your Price: $46.20

(96 Points) Dark blackcurrant on the nose, really speaking of the Cabernet Sauvignon with medicinal herbal touches too, mint, bramble and dark chocolate. Very gently chewy, such a subtle bounce to the palate with the ripe fruit coming through giving the density while the Cabernet Sauvignon gives the strength, the structure and the backbone. It expands outwards, penetrating the sides of the mouth but retaining a sense of refinement. It doesn't feel like it's been overworked, there's tension but nothing harsh. Structured and serious but also there's lots of life with great acidity and a mouthfilling crushed stone texture. Really delicious and I love the outward freshness. A lovely Petit in 2020 that will also age well. Serious but captivating. Ageing 14 months, 15-20% new oak.  Decanter

 

2018 Le Petit Haut Lafitte Rouge Pessac Leognan

Price: $60.00                             Your Price: $52.80

Bought by the Cathiards in 1990 all organic and 1/2 of the wines are biodynamic 78 hectares, 11 are white and this is the second wine which is the young vines.  They are the first winery to separate the CO2 and recycle it they have a unique process the cover the vat with a hat and then link it to a pipe and the CO2 looks like cocaine they use some of it in the fertilizers and they sell the rest to the cosmetic industry, they call this circular economy they also do all their own compost and they grow their own rootstock keeping the DNA of their own vines. 

 

A blend of 60/40 Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot from 25 year old vines or less.   A nice amount of ripe currant and plum fruit with notes of coffee and some gravelly earth, notes of coco/mocha and more coming out as the wine opens.  A delicious wine very forward and precocious with fine tannins and that cigar box spice with fresh minerality showing through the finish.  Finish 40+    Excellent   

 

 

A bit about Pessac Leognan

 

Pessac-Léognan is a wine growing area and Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, in the northern part of the Graves region of Bordeaux. Unlike most Bordeaux appellations, Pessac-Léognan is equally famous for both red and (dry) white wines, although red wine is still predominant.   It includes the only red-wine producer outside the Haut-Médoc classified in the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855, the premier cru Château Haut-Brion, and also includes all of the châteaux listed in the 1953/59 classification of Graves. These classed growths account for a third of the wine produced in Pessac-Léognan.

 

Pessac-Léognan lies on the left bank of the Garonne. It is immediately south of the city of Bordeaux (with a small portion to the west): indeed some of the northern vineyards of Pessac-Léognan are completely surrounded by the housing estates of Bordeaux, as a result of the city's southward expansion.  It consists of 8 communes: (from north to south) Mérignac, Talence, Pessac, Gradignan, Villenave-d'Ornon, Cadaujac, Léognan and Martillac.   A significant part of the area is forested.  It includes 1580 hectares of vines.  The soil is very gravelly with the Médoc to the north, Cabernet Sauvignon is the predominant grape, but a somewhat greater proportion of Merlot is typically used in the blend. Cabernet Franc is also used, with small amounts of Petit Verdot and Malbec.  Styles vary more widely than in most Bordeaux AOCs, but typical flavors are blackcurrant and cedar, and the wines are often described as 'earthy'.

 

White wine

 

Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon are the grapes used, usually blended. The wine is typically fermented in barrels at a low temperature. Nectarine is a typical flavor when the wines are young, maturing (over 7–15 years) into flavors of nuts, honey and custard. They are said to be among France's greatest whites.