(Wine-Searcher) - Bordeaux producer aims to revive the famous sweet wines by dressing them up for a night on the town.

Château Smith Haut Lafitte has teamed up with bottled water company Perrier to release an "aperitif" Sauternes destined for the trendiest bars of Paris.

Smith's owners Florence and Daniel Cathiard bought Château Bastor Lamontagne in Sauternes last year and – together with a group of as-yet-unnamed first growths of the region have made SO Sauternes, a light white designed to be mixed with Perrier.

It's a way, Florence Cathiard told Wine Searcher, of "bringing Sauternes to younger people". SO Sauternes will be launched in ultra-trendy bars like the rooftop Le Perchoir in the 11th arrondissment.

"The kind of cocktail bars and nightclubs that I am talking about will never have seen a bottle of Sauternes," she said.

SO Sauternes – of which 10,000 bottles have been made, sealed with screwcap – is 100-percent Sémillon from younger vines at a number of châteaux in Sauternes. "They are first growths," Cathiard confirmed, "but we are not announcing which ones yet."

The decision to make an aperitif wine from Bordeaux's revered yet unprofitable sweet wine appellation is controversial, she admitted. "In most of Sauternes they are still royalists."

But, she said, Sauternes is simply "not making any money", and this was a far better way of connecting with a young audience and keeping faith with Sauternes. Making dry wine – as many of her neighbors do, including Sauternes first growth Château d'Yquem and Domaine de Chevalier, which makes wines in Sauternes – is not staying true to the terroir, she suggested.

Perrier is an integral part of the deal, Cathiard said, paying "at least half" of the advertising costs of the new venture.

Smith Haut Lafitte is not the first producer in the sweet wine appellation to try to connect with a hip, younger audience. In recent years, wineries including grand cru property Château d'Arche and Château Saint-Marc packaged their wines in 100ml test tube-like containers and aimed the product at nightclubs and fashion parties.