We arrived on Sunday afternoon at Les Sources de Caudalie, the on-site hotel at Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte in Bordeaux. The hotel is outstanding country inn with a distinct country feel. The Chateau is owned by Daniel and Florence Cathiard. Daniel made his money in the retail sporting business and spent much of his life in and around Grenoble. Jean Claude Killy, the Olympic skier is a good friend. When he sold that business 20 years ago, he purchased Chateau Smith Haut Lafite and has been improving it for years. Great guy with a great wife. We did a tour of the wine making facility and the cellars in the afternoon then had a wine tasting at their home, The Chateau, early evening.
The photo of the Moke shows Patricia riding with Daniel Cathiard back to the Chateau for the tasting.
They then joined us in the restaurant La Table du Lavoir at Les Sources Caudalie for Dinner. We drank 2008 and 2008 Smith Haut Lafitte white wine at the tasting and the 2007 at dinner.
We also had their 1985 and 2005 Red wine at the tasting and the 2006 at Dinner. In general their red wines are 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. All wines are fermented in oak tanks and fermented in French Oak barrels. 80 % of the barrels are new.
In the photo above, Peter chats with Daniel Cathiard, owner of Chateau Smith Haut Laffite.
We had a wonderful foie gras pate to start at dinner and duck for the main course. A perfect way to start a week in France. During dinner Bill Harlan who owns Harlan Estates and Meadowood in the Napa Valley and who was in town for Vin Expo was at the next table. When we talked to him he said that Les Sources de Caudalie was his "home away from home" in Bordeaux
One of the most interesting things about the stay was to find that they still, in 2011, used horses in the vineyards (as shown in the photo) to minimize the impact. They do use regular vineyard tractors also however.
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