Both AXA and the Cathiards of Château Smith Haut Lafitte showed off their Napa Valley wines recently – one with a daring blind tasting. See my article on Saturday for why the Bordelais are so interested in California wine estates.
By complete coincidence, I attended two London tastings of Napa Cabernets made by famous Bordeaux producers in the last few months. The first was hosted at the restaurant Trivet by Christian Seely, managing director of AXA Millésimes, who explained that he spent two years scouting in northern California before buying Outpost (pictured above) high on Howell Mountain in 2018.
‘I...