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It's impossible to talk about the great wines of the Médoc without mentioning Château Lafite-Rothschild. A Domaine steeped in history, whose reputation and prestige are matched only by the legendary wines born there.
Ancient medieval seigneury, it was under Jacques de Ségur, from a family of Bordeaux parliamentarians, that the first vines were planted in the 1670's. The wine gradually acquired an excellent reputation thanks to technical progress, at the royal court of Versailles but also across the Channel with the expansion of trade with England. Then in 1787, Thomas Jefferson, US ambassador to France at the time, praised it in his travel notes.
The Château Lafite was promoted to the rank of Ier Grand Cru Classé in 1855 on the occasion of the Paris Universal Exhibition, a distinction it shares with the Château Latour, Château Haut-Brion and Château Margaux, as well as the Château Mouton Rothschild since 1973.
The subsequent rise of Château Lafite owes much to the Rothschild family, with Baron James de Rothschild acquiring the estate in 1868 and attaching his name to it from that date. When Baron Eric took over the reins in 1974, everything was gradually put in place with the aim of modernizing and improving performance, in order to reveal the exceptional potential of the terroir. Today, his... See more ...
The vintage
The climatic year was marked by a very wet winter and very mild temperatures, which led to early budburst. Flowering proceeded smoothly and evenly.
The summer then alternated between warm weather and cloudy spells right up to the harvest: July was cool, August warm, and September cool again with some rain. In these conditions, ripening was rather heterogeneous, but the harvest took place in very good conditions.
The first Merlot grapes were picked on September 28, and the 350-strong harvesting team started on October 1, finishing on October 11. Sorting the harvest on the skips was a very important operation this year, to ensure that only the best grapes were sent to the vat room.
Situation
The Pauillac appellation is located on the Rive gauche of the Gironde estuary, some 40 km north of Bordeaux. Benefiting from the influence of the estuary and a great diversity of soils originating from the Massif Central and the Pyrenees, Pauillac combines exceptional climatic and geological conditions to produce great wines.
Terroir
Château Lafite Rothschild is located to the north of the Pauillac appellation, on the edge of Saint-Estèphe. The vineyard comprises three main areas: the slopes around Château, the Carruades plateau to the west and a 4.5 ha parcel in the Saint-Estèphe appellation. The surface area is 112 ha and the soils are made up of fine, deep, well-drained, well-exposed gravel mixed with Aeolian sands on a tertiary limestone subsoil.
Winemaking
Vinification went smoothly and under good conditions. Maceration times, depending on the grape variety, terroir and age of the vines, remained classic (20 to 22 days). Surprisingly, juice yields were significantly lower than usual.
Tasting
Initial tastings show a wine of great elegance, concentrated on the palate with soft, melted tannins.