At Château Smith Haut Lafitte on the outskirts of Bordeaux, France, winery staff are bracing for an unprecedented situation as wildfires rage nearby.
“This is an experience unlike anything we’ve ever had before,” Ludovic Fradin, the winery’s deputy managing director, told CNN’s Paula Newton.
Fradin said the winery, which houses a five-star hotel, had not yet been told to evacuate its premises, but staff were preparing for the worst.
“Pending,” Fradin said. “It is a very frightening and disturbing situation, but we are ready to move if necessary and try to save people and animals.”
Fradin said Château Smith Haut Lafitte has developed a plan in case staff need to move livestock, including cows and llamas. In the meantime, the winery is providing pastries and water to firefighters.
The fire caused alarm among wine lovers around the world because of its proximity to France’s famous vineyards near Bordeaux. Château Smith Haut Lafitte produces some of the most highly regarded and expensive wines.
Forest fires often cause ripe grapes to taste bitter due to smoke, a problem known in the wine industry as “smoke contamination.” On Saturday, wine expert Nicole Croft said she had received many calls from concerned observers about the potential for harm to the 2026 vintage.
But Croft told CNN that the grapes around Bordeaux are not yet ripe enough to suffer smoke damage. “Grapes are very hard and like little peas,” she said. “No scent is absorbed.”
However, smoke can become a problem if the fire continues for a long time. Dr. Phil Cruz, a winemaker and chemist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, told CNN on Saturday that as grapes ripen, sugars can combine with phenols in smoke. The resulting pollution is “ashy and smells bad,” Cruz said.
“If the wind is blowing in the direction of the vineyard, you’re going to have a problem,” Cruz says.
