Château Lafite Rothschild

Review of the Estate

Château Lafite Rothschild is a wine estate in France, owned by members of the Rothschild family since the 19th century. The name Lafite comes from the Gascon term "la hite" meaning "small hill".

Lafite was one of four wine-producing Châteaux of Bordeaux originally awarded First Growth status in the 1855 Classification, which was based on recent prices. Since then, it has been a consistent producer of one of the world's most expensive red wines.

Situated in the wine-producing village of Pauillac in the Médoc region to the north-west of Bordeaux, Château Lafite Rothschild was the property of Gombaud de Lafite in 1234. 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 Lafite vineyard.

In the early 18th century, Nicolas-Alexandre, marquis de Ségur refined the wine-making techniques at Château Lafite, 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, Château Lafite's reputation was assured and even Thomas Jefferson visited the estate and became a lifelong customer.

The first half of the 19th century saw Château Lafite in the hands of the Vanlerberghe family and the wine improved more, including the great vintages of 1795, 1798 and 1818. On 8 August 1868, the Château was purchased by Baron James Mayer Rothschild for 4.4 million francs, and the estate became Château Lafite Rothschild. Rothschild, however, died just three months after purchasing Château Lafite. The estate then became the joint property of his three sons: Alphonse, Gustave, and Edmond Rothschild.

Succeeding his uncle Élie de Rothschild, Château Lafite Rothschild has been under the direction of Eric de Rothschild since 1974.

The record price at auction for a bottle of Lafite Rothschild ($156,000) was for a 1787 Château Lafite which was once thought to be owned by Thomas Jefferson. The authenticity of the bottle, however, has been challenged.

Recently the Lafite Rothschild 2008 vintage produced a worldwide increase in price of over 125% in 6 months from release, which in turn has come to push some Asian countries to the top of the list of worldwide markets in which investment grade wine is purchased.

Chateau Lafite Rothschild Wine List