Bordeaux estate to turn carbon emissions into toothpaste

Château Smith Haut Lafitte in Bordeaux is to turn its carbon emissions into toothpaste.

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Speaking to the drinks business at an en primuer tasting of the estate’s wines last week, co-owner Daniel Cathiard revealed details of the unusual plan.

“Our aim is to be as green as possible, so we’re going to capture the carbon emitted during the fermentation process and turn it into bicarbonate of soda to be used in toothpaste,” he said.

“We don’t want to waste anything here, so why not make the most of our carbon? We produce a lot of C02 at the winery and we want to be like a forest and capture it,” he added.

Cathiard told db that he would turn the carbon from a gas into sodium bicarbonate and sell it on to pharmaceutical companies for use in toothpaste.

He plans to make his first batch of bicarbonate of soda this year.

Smith Haut Lafitte is to turn its carbon emissions into bicarbonate of soda

Husband and wife duo Daniel and Florence Cathiard, former professional Alpine skiers, also own luxury hotel and wine spa Les Sources de Caudalie and the Caudalie cosmetics range, with boutique shops in Paris and Hong Kong.

Despite their cosmetics connection, Cathiard said there were no plans to sell Caudalie-branded toothpaste.

The Cathiard’s are also busy working on a luxury guest house at their latest acquisition: the 11-hectare Château le Thil close to their estate in Pessac-Léognan.

Having purchased the property last September, they are aiming to have the 10-room boutique hotel ready in time for Vinexpo in June.

As for wine, Cathiard revealed that the estate is producing more of its second wine, Les Hauts de Smith, than its top red at the moment, at a ratio of 60/40.

“We’re making and selling a lot of our second wine at the moment – it’s three times cheaper than our first wine and offers incredible quality for the price.

“I anticipate we’ll make even higher amounts of our second wine in the future, but we ideally want to bring the ratio back down to 50/50 with our first wine,” Cathiard said.

“The goal is to lure people in with the second wine then get them to upgrade to the grand vin,” he added.