Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte: Tasting & Drinking
I’ve alluded already to my personal opinion of Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte; this is a great property which lost its way at some point during the 20th century. In the course of the past decade or two, however, things have taken a turn for the better here. With new investment, direction and determination from Daniel and Florence Cathiard and their team, led by the talented Fabien Teitgen, the wines began to demonstrate notable improvements. The 2005 was a particular success, thanks to it being both fresh and rich, highly desirable characteristics especially when found in combination.
Other vintages are also impressive, especially the white 2006 – a great year for the whites wines of Graves; I have had the good fortune to taste it several times, including a bottle over dinner with Florence Cathiard (and numerous other people) at La Table du Lavoir, one of the aforementioned restaurants under the Les Sources de Caudelie brand in the grounds of Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte (I confess this is so long ago now that were it not for this mention here I would have long forgotten this). There were many bottles sampled that night (maybe that is why) and we touched every point on the Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte spectrum. There was the finesse of the white 2006, but also the simple pleasure of the 2006 Les Hauts de Smith Rosé, the red 2006 grand vin was no slouch, neither was a delightful 2001 to name just a few.
In more recent vintages, however, quality has been ratcheted up not just one notch, but perhaps several notches, progress achieved through increased attention to detail and even greater efforts on the part of the Cathiards’ team. Sadly, such great success inevitably brought significant price rises, and a reluctance to allow prices to fall again when the quality of the wine – as we have seen in the 2011 vintage – does not really merit it. The Cathiards, however, are not alone in this.
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