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 ...
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 daughter Saskia manages Château, always with the aim of producing wines worthy of their great terroir.
Today, Château Lafite-Rothschild rests on 112 hectares of vines, situated on deep, fine gravel hilltops with a limestone subsoil and facing the Gironde estuary. The grape varieties are 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot.
The Domaine produces a Second wine on a par with its elder, the Carruades de Lafite.
The wines of Château Lafite-Rothschild are opulently rich, racy and noble, displaying a controlled power that allows them to evolve superbly over the years.
