As founder of Wine Lovers Travel, I’ve had the great fortune to visit scores of wineries and meet their winemakers all over the world. Sometimes someone really touches me, and so it was with Daniel Cathiard, the proprietor of Smith Haut Lafitte in Bordeaux and, more recently, Cathiard Vineyards in Napa Valley. So I was shocked and saddened to learn that he had passed away after a short illness on January 28, 2026, at the not-so-old age of 81.
It was less than a year ago that Daniel hosted dinner for my group from Brian Carter Cellars at his château in Martillac, which is just south of Bordeaux and in the Pessac-Léognan AOC. And a couple of months prior to that, I had visited him and Florence, his wife of nearly 60 years at their relatively newly acquired winery in Napa. I couldn’t believe that Daniel, who was full of life and passion, is now gone.
This is not an obituary of Daniel. You can read about his extraordinary life in all the wine publications (but I do have to mention that long before he became a winemaker, he competed on the French national ski team with Jean-Claude Killy). I want to share my personal recollections of him and his family.
Meeting the Cathiard Family
The first member of the Cathiard family I met was his daughter, Alice Tourbier in 2023. I was thrilled to have been selected as an invited buyer at the DUCO luxury travel trade conference in Paris. The days and nights were all scheduled with networking and glamorous events, except for one free evening.
A couple of weeks prior to departing for Paris, I received an invitation to have dinner at the Paris home of Alice and Jerome Tourbier, who owned a small group of boutique hotels, including their flagship, Les Sources de Caudalie near Bordeaux. I did not know much about the Tourbiers or their hotels, but I was excited to have dinner at a private home in Paris. Once I RSVP’d yes, I was advised that a driver would come pick me up at my hotel on the appointed evening.
We arrived at a very modern, unassuming home in the 16th arrondissement, a very nice neighborhood in the northwest corner of the city. It was pouring rain and dark, so I was happy when another guest, also a travel advisor, arrived, so we could find the entrance to the house together.
Alice and Jerome greeted us with a glass of Smith Haut Lafitte, my first exposure to their wine. They were so warm and welcoming, making me feel right at home. The inside was as modern as the exterior, and very tasteful. It looked to be the home of people who were financially comfortable, but not at all ostentatious or over the top.
All together, there were about 10 of us who were invited, apparently because the Tourbiers had combed through all of the bios we had to submit to be selected to attend DUCO, and we were the ones most likely to recommend their hotels to our clients.
I remember the dinner was delicious and the wine was even better. Jerome poured a 2014 vintage, which was so smooth with rounded tannins. I took photos of the bottle because I wanted to source some once I returned home. Alice invited me to sit next to her at the oval table, which was great because I had a chance to chat directly rather than overhear other conversations.
What I learned was how accomplished the family is. Alice and her sister Mathilde had grown up at the winery in Bordeaux. While her parents, Daniel and Florence, made wine and grew that business, Alice went into business and, along with her husband, started renovating various châteaux in France to convert them into hotels. The first was Les Sources de Caudalie, across the vineyard from her parents’ winery. It sounded like a glorious place to stay, and one that I decided right then and there that I would use for future Wine Lovers Travel trips to Bordeaux.
Alice’s sister, Mathilde, whom I have not met, was the scientist of the family. Early on, she determined that the antioxidants in grapes would make an excellent source of skin care products, and the company Caudalie was born! Although I do speak French, I was unfamiliar with the word Caudalie and wondered if perhaps it was someone’s name. It turns out that a “Caudalie” is a term of measurement. It’s the time it takes for the finish to last when you drink a glass of wine! What a great name for a skincare line produced from grapes.
Since Alice’s parents were not at dinner, she encouraged me to follow up with her, and she would let me know when they made one of their frequent trips to Napa Valley to tend to their winery, which they had just purchased in 2020.
Meeting Daniel Cathiard
As a result, I did get to meet Daniel and Florence about a year later in California. They had purchased the property and vineyards from Flora Springs (but not the winery, which still operates under that name). It was in a beautiful old (by California standards) castle-type building in the hills overlooking St. Helena. Their major mission was to make the winery fully self-sustaining, so Florence was overseeing the construction of a cooperage (barrel-making facility) in the natural cave,s which was part of the structure. She’d even hired a French cooper to make the barrels, and he was there that day, in the early days of his venture.
Daniel showed me around, along with his niece, who had come from France to help get the commercial part of the winery established. He was charming, as French men are. Whatstruck me most was how proud he was of his daughters. To him, their successes far exceeded his, and he was delighted to tell me all about them.
Brian Carter Cellars and Daniel Cathiard
The next, and sadly last, time I saw Daniel was in April 2025, when I escorted a group of wine club members of Brian Carter Cellars, one of my long-time clients, on their Bordeaux trip. We did stay at Les Sources de Caudalie, which is a magical place. Like the winery, the resort is committed to being self-sustaining, growing its own produce and operating as organically as possible.
Our last night there, we had dinner at the Smith Haut Lafitte, which is just a short five-minute walk through the vineyards from the hotel. Daniel greeted everyone with glasses of wine, then asked one of his staff to give us a tour of the production facilities. Although I had previously requested that he join us for dinner, it was a little unclear. But as we were led into the private dining room in the winery, Daniel did join us.
He and Brian Carter, who makes wonderful Bordeaux blends at his winery in Seattle, seemed to thoroughly enjoy each other. Although I was not at their table (by choice—I didn’t want to interfere with them getting acquainted), I could see by their facial expressions and body language that the two winemakers were having an excellent time.
As the dinner ended, Brian asked to give a little talk, during which he presented Daniel with one of his best Brian Carter Cellars wines. It was a dinner that everyone will always remember.
I am so grateful that I had these brief times to get to know Daniel, as well as his wife and daughter. Wine is a very emotional experience, and getting to know the winemaker, not as some celebrity who makes 100-point wines, but as a father and husband, and as a friend, makes it incredibly special. I did track down that 2014 vintage, and when I open it, my toast will be to Daniel Cathiard. May he rest in peace and know that not only was he respected, but that he was loved.