Chateau Lafite-Rothschild. Red wine from France

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

For more than a century, the famous French wine Château Lafite has remained the most expensive and best in the world, embodying respectability and we alth, luxury and prestige. Since the end of the 19th century, several generations of the Rothschild family have been working on the creation of these unique wines.

Manor on the Hill

One of the world's most famous wineries Château Lafite-Rothschild is located in French Bordeaux, Medoc district. For the first time, this feudal estate is mentioned in documents dating back to 1234. Philologists say that the name "lafite" comes from the Gascon la hite, meaning "slope, hill." Such a name is very suitable for the estate, located on a gently sloping hill.

A bit of history

The estate of Château Lafite was owned until the summer of 1868, when Baron James Jacob de Rothschild, who at that time headed the French branch of this famous family, acquired more than 70 hectares of vineyards and the farm itself, the following individuals:

• nobleman Joseph Soba dePommier;
• Jacques de Segur - notary public;
• Alexandre de Segur;
• Nicolas-Alexandre, Marquis de Segur;
• Nicolas Marie Alexandre de Ségur;
• Nicolas Pierre de Pichard;
• Baron Jean Arend de Vos Van Steenvwyck;
• Jean de Witt;
• Othon Guillaume Jean Berg;
• Jean Gaulle de Frankenstein;
• banker Vanlerberg;
• Madame Lemaire Barbara-Rosalie.

Time to recognize

By the beginning of the 18th century, Chateau Lafitte was already a well-known and sought-after wine. This was largely facilitated by the "wine prince" - Nicolas Alexandre de Ségur, who made considerable efforts to improve the wines produced by his estate. The changes that have taken place have been highly appreciated both in France itself and abroad. The Duke of Richelieu, during his governorship in the province of Guyenne, on the advice of a family doctor, used Château Lafitte wine. His recommendations helped put Château Lafite on the royal table of Louis XV. Courtiers and nobles, following the example of their ruler, also began to order it. The English Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, highly appreciated the products of Château Lafitte and ordered more than 200 liters of wine for himself every few months.

In the "Official Classification of Bordeaux Wines" published in the middle of the 19th century, the Château Lafite wine-producing estate was officially included in the Premier Grand Cru Classe category and recognized as one of the four best.

Rothschild era

In the summer of 1868, the vineyards and the estate of Chateau Lafitte were once again sold. The price thatpaid by James de Rothschild amounted to almost 5 million francs at that time. Three months after this transaction, James died, and the winery was inherited by his three sons: Edmond, Alphonse and Gustav. The harvest of this very year, 1868, received a record high price, beaten only at the end of the 20th century, for a 900 liter barrel - 6250 francs, which is equivalent to modern 5000 euros.

Rough Times

From the end of the 19th century and throughout the first half of the 20th century, Chateau Lafitte Rothschild struggled to survive. The epidemic of gray mold and phylloxera had a negative impact on the vineyards. The First World War and the subsequent Great Depression of the thirties led to an unprecedented drop in prices for wines from European producers. All this contributed to the fact that the Rothschilds declassified some wine vintages from 1882 to 1886, and some other years. In addition, during this period, in order to exclude the possibility of counterfeiting and fraud, wine was bottled only on the territory of Château Lafite. Around this time, the vineyard area was significantly reduced, but nevertheless there were several releases of excellent quality wine, such as 1899, 1906 and 1929. Elie Robert, son of Edmond and great-grandson of James de Rothschild, took over the family business at the end of World War II. It was he, in collaboration with the well-known oenologist of that time, Professor Emile Peynaud, who made a huge contribution to the post-war restoration of French winemaking and became one of the founders of the Medoc winemaking community.

Change of power

In the seventies of the last centurygenerations changed, and Baron Elie Robert handed over the management of Chateau Lafitte to Eric de Rothschild, his nephew. The new leader not only updated the team, but also began planting young vines and began to use unique developments and methods for plant protection. Technologist Charles Chevalier, invited in the last decade of the 20th century to manage the French estate and control the quality of the wine produced, still works for the Rothschilds.

Current State

Today, the family business "Chateau Lafite Rothschild" is part of the wine holding DBR Lafite - Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite), owned by the French branch of this family. This company has acquired several more vineyards in France, as well as in South American countries such as Argentina and Chile. Thanks to this, the company has significantly increased the area of vineyards and increased production volumes.

Soil and grapes

Modern vineyards in Bardo are located on several sites:

• in the squares near the village of Saint-Estephe;
• in the territories to the west of the estate, on the Carruade plateau;
• right next to the castle, on the slopes of the hill.

These vineyards have poor soils, consisting of a mixture of gravel and fine sandstone, based on a thick limestone bed. Due to the scarcity of the soil, the yield here is quite low, but the concentration of various substances is very high. All this affects the saturation and complexity of the bouquet of wines.

Today in the householdgrow the following vine varieties:

• Cabernet Sauvignon - growing, about 70% of the area;
• Merlot - ¼ vineyards;
• Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, very few.

World famous red wine from France - Château Lafite-Rothschild is made only from berries picked from vines over 30 years old. There is also the La Graviere sector, where the vines are over 100 years old, and several sites with more "young" - 80-year-old.

How is wine made?

In order to preserve the integrity and uniqueness of the taste of grapes from each site, the Lafitte estate ferments them in separate tanks.

For three to four weeks, the must ferments in wooden vats, irrigating the pulp and facilitating the transfer of aromatic and extractive compounds, minerals and polysaccharides from it into the wine being made. At the end of this stage, the resulting composition is tasted and poured into vats for malolactic fermentation, or, as it is also called, malolactic fermentation, which helps to soften the taste and reduce acidity. In portions, young wine is poured from vats into cisterns. In March, before the drinks are poured into barrels, an assemblage is held. This is a blending of young wines made from grapes of the same variety, but grown in different areas. For 18 - 20 months, the barrels are placed in the cellar for aging wine, and then it is already bottled.

"First" and "second" wines

The main, or "first", wine "Rothschild Lafite" iscreated back in 1815 by Château Lafite-Rothschild. Its composition, depending on the harvest, includes 80 - 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5 - 20% Merlot, and all this can be supplemented with a small amount of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. About 90,000 - 145,000 bottles of this dense, as experts say, "in the body" wine is produced annually, thanks to which the price at Chateau Lafite is always kept at a very high level.

The "second" wine of this French winery - Carruades de Lafite, almost until the end of the last century was known as Moulin des Carruades. It is produced only from grapes harvested from the vines of the Carruade plateau. It is based, depending on the yield, on Merlot (30-50%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (50-70%), as well as up to 5% Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Unlike the "first" wine, the "second" is aged for about 18 months in both new and two-year-old oak barrels. Approximately 180,000 bottles are produced annually.

Very expensive and tasteful…

The outstanding years (millesims) of Château Lafite of the past and present centuries, worthy of 100 out of 100 possible points, were named by the world-famous expert Robert Parker: 1982, 1986, 1990, 1996, 2000 and 2003. Despite the fact that Chateau Lafitte 1963 is not on this list, the price for it is high - from 85,000 Russian rubles and more. It's just that it's almost impossible to find it, if you're lucky enough to buy it at some auction.