Château Lafite-Rothschild
|
Château Lafite-Rothschild |
|
Lafite-Rothschild label from the 1999 vintage |
Château Lafite Rothschild is a winery in
France currently owned by members of the
Rothschild banking family of France. The name Lafite comes from the
Gascon term 'la hite' meaning 'small hill'.
Only four
wine-producing Châteaux of
Bordeaux achieved
First Growth status in the
1855 Classification, which was based on recent prices. Of those, the first one in the list is
Château Lafite Rothschild, a consistent producer of one of the world's most expensive red wines.
Situated in the great wine-producing village of
Pauillac in the
Médoc region to the north-west of
Bordeaux, the estate has been occupied since at least the 14th century. In the 17th century, the property of
Château Lafite was purchased by the Ségur family, including the 16th century manor house that still stands. Although vines almost certainly already existed on the site, around
1680, Jacques de Ségur planted the majority of the
vineyard.
In the early 18th century, Marquis Nicolas Alexandre de Ségur refined the wine-making techniques of the estate, and introduced his wines to the upper echelons of European society. Before long he was known as the "Wine Prince", and the wine of Château Lafite called "The King's Wine" thanks to the influential support of the
Maréchal de Richelieu. Towards the end of the 18th century, Lafite's reputation was assured and even
Thomas Jefferson visited the estate and became a lifelong customer.
Following the
French Revolution, the period known as
Reign of Terror led to the execution of Nicolas Pierre de Pichard on
June 30 1794, bringing an end to the Ségur family's ownership of the estate. In
1797 the vineyards were sold to a group of
Dutch merchants.
The first half of the 19th century saw Lafite in the hands of the Vanlerberghe family and the wine improved more, including the great
vintages of
1795,
1798 and
1818. On
August 8 1868, the Château was purchased by Baron
James Mayer Rothschild for 4.4 million francs, and the estate became Château Lafite Rothschild. Baron James, however, died just 3 months after purchasing Lafite. The estate then became the joint property of his three sons: Alphonse, Gustave and Edmond.
The 20th century has seen periods of success and difficulty, coping with post-
phylloxera vines, and two world wars. During the
Second World War the Château was occupied by the German army, and suffered heavily from plundering of its cellars. Succeeding his uncle
Élie de Rothschild, Lafite has been under the direction of
Eric de Rothschild since
1974.
The
vineyard is one of the largest in the Médoc at around 1 km², and produces around 35,000 cases annually, of which between 15,000 and 25,000 are of its famous first growth. Its vines are around 70 %
Cabernet Sauvignon, 25 %
Merlot, 3 %
Cabernet Franc, and 2 %
Petit Verdot, whereas the final wine is between 80 and 95 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 5 and 20 % Merlot, and up to 3 % Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Occasionally exceptions are made, such as the
1961 vintage which was 100 % Cabernet Sauvignon. In addition to the first growth, around a third of the wine is labelled as the second growth Carruades de Lafite.
The best Lafite
vintages include (with exceptional vintages in bold):
*1795, 1798, 1801, 1802, 1814, 1815,
1818, 1834, 1841,
1846, 1847, 1848, 1858, 1864, 1869, 1870, 1876, 1899, 1900, 1906, 1926, 1929,
1945, 1947, 1949, 1955,
1959,
1961, 1975, 1976,
1982, 1985, 1986, 1989,
1990, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999,
2000,
2003,
2005.
Chateau Lafite-Rothschild has been included in the following competitions:
*
Ottawa Wine Tasting of 1981 (8 in field of 13)
*
Halekulani Wine Tasting of 2000 (3 in field of 17)
*
Berlin Wine Tasting of 2004 (3 in field of 8)
Lafite-Rothschild wine continues to be considered excellent and frequently garners praise from professional critics like
Jancis Robinson and
Robert Parker.
*
Wine competitions*
Bordeaux wine*
French wine*
Blind tasting of wine*
Château Lafite Rothschild*Maurice Chittenden and Ed Habershon. Rothschilds Choke on a Wine Tasting.
The Sunday Times (London), May 28, 2006 [
1]
