DRAPED in vines and flanked by half-timbered towers, the castle at Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte near Bordeaux dates to 1365. It’s the kind of legacy that gives its proprietors a sense of permanence.
But a rampaging forest fire west of the city – one of the worst since World War II, forcing hundreds of thousands to evacuate – burned to within 15km of the chateau’s meticulously tended vineyards.
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