Daniel Cathiard, the visionary owner of Château Smith Haut Lafitte and a gentle giant of the Bordeaux wine world, passed away in the night from Wednesday to Thursday, January 29th, 2026, at the age of 81.
Born in Grenoble, Daniel’s life was marked from the beginning by energy, discipline and quiet determination. As a young man he threw himself into competitive skiing, joining the French national team in the era of Jean‑Claude Killy, before family duty called him away from the slopes after the death of his father. At just 23, he laid down his skis and took up the responsibility of the family’s Genty‑Cathiard grocery stores, transforming a modest network into a flourishing business and later creating the Go Sport chain, a reference in sporting goods retail in France.
Along the way he met Florence, as athletic and strong‑willed as he was. She came from a family of teachers deeply sensitive to environmental issues, and together they formed an extraordinary partnership: he, the entrepreneur with a sure hand and a long vision; she, the communicator with a keen sense of message, image and relationships. Side by side, they would later bring the same shared energy, convictions and humility to the world of wine.
In 1990, Daniel and Florence took a decisive, audacious step: they acquired Château Smith Haut Lafitte, an almost forgotten estate in Pessac‑Léognan, then owned by an American boxing promoter. What might have seemed a romantic gamble became one of the great success stories of modern Bordeaux. With patience and relentless investment in the vineyards and cellars, they transformed this sleeping property, nestled among trees and forest, into one of the brightest lights of the Graves. Daniel guided the estate with a firm but discreet hand, while Florence orchestrated its voice in the world, welcoming guests, journalists and friends, from loyal wine lovers to Bono, whose music Daniel particularly loved.
The Cathiards were pioneers before it became fashionable. They embraced organic viticulture and then biodynamics, long before such practices were widely adopted in Bordeaux, and they understood earlier than most the potential of wine tourism, turning Smith Haut Lafitte into a destination as well as a grand cru. Their efforts were crowned in spectacular fashion when Robert Parker awarded a perfect 100/100 to their 2009 vintage, a wine that Daniel would always consider his favourite. That score propelled the château into a new sphere of recognition, but Daniel remained the same: measured in his words, restrained in his gestures, never boasting of success, always more comfortable in the dawn light of his vines than under the spotlights.
In 2024, another symbolic moment sealed his place in contemporary wine history, when King Charles III chose Château Smith Haut Lafitte as a stage of his visit to Bordeaux. The images of the monarch walking through the estate alongside Daniel and Florence, between fairy‑tale turrets, modern fountains and works of art, traveled around the world and offered a kind of public consecration to a life’s work. Daniel himself, with his characteristic modesty, attributed this honour to the king’s environmental sensibility, which resonated with the estate’s philosophy.
Yet Daniel’s curiosity and appetite for new horizons did not stop at Bordeaux. In Rutherford, in California’s Napa Valley, he and Florence created Cathiard Vineyards, a new estate, a new cellar bathed in light, a place where visitors from across the globe came to taste their wines. There, Daniel found again the pleasure of early‑morning walks and the quiet companionship of the forest, even when a face‑to‑face encounter with a puma reminded him that these landscapes, too, have their wild heartbeat. He spoke of that moment with a mixture of humour and awe, ending with a practical detail that said much about him: from then on, he took his solitary walks with a can of pepper spray, “just in case.”
At home in Bordeaux, Daniel remained deeply aware that true success in wine is measured over time and across generations. At the beginning of January 2026, he and Florence announced a change in the governance of their estates, preparing carefully for the future. Florence joined him as co‑chair of the supervisory board of Château Smith Haut Lafitte and Cathiard Vineyard, while their two daughters, Mathilde Thomas and Alice Tourbier – already accomplished entrepreneurs, notably through Caudalie and the Les Sources hotel collection – took the helm of the management board. It was a thoughtful, loving act of transmission, a way of ensuring that the family spirit and the values of the estate would endure.
Beyond the entrepreneur, the pioneer and the discreet strategist, those who met Daniel remember above all a calm presence, a man of listening rather than speeches, with a contained but unmistakable inner strength. His sure step among the vines, his gentle manner, his unfailing courtesy and his simple warmth made him instantly approachable, whether by a young intern, a visiting sommelier or a foreign head of state.
Daniel leaves behind Florence, his lifelong companion in every project and every harvest, their daughters Mathilde and Alice, and five grandchildren, who gathered with him twice a year, at Christmas and for his birthday on April 27. He also leaves a broader family: the teams of Château Smith Haut Lafitte and Cathiard Vineyards, the winegrowers and merchants of Bordeaux and beyond, and the countless wine lovers for whom his wines have marked a celebration, a shared meal, a memorable evening.
Today, the vineyards of Pessac‑Léognan and the forests of Napa are a little quieter. But in every bottle of Smith Haut Lafitte or Cathiard Vineyards opened in the years to come, there will be something of his vision, his patience and his belief that wine is, above all, a meeting between nature, time and people.
May he rest in peace, and may his legacy continue to inspire future generations of vignerons and wine lovers around the world.
We mourn this loss together with the whole Symbolic Wines team; our deepest condolences to Florence and the family. We will keep Daniel’s memory bright in our hearts forever.
Photos: Symbolic Wines
