Ch. Lafite Rothschild

Ch. Lafite Rothschild is one of the most famous wine estates in Bordeaux and the world. One of the Left Bank’s five First Growths, the Pauillac property is renowned for producing wines of finesse and elegance that age beautifully.

About Lafite Rothschild

About the producer

Ch. Lafite Rothschild is one of the most famous wine estates in Bordeaux and the world. One of the Left Bank’s five First Growths, the Pauillac property is renowned for producing wines of finesse and elegance that age beautifully. Ch. Lafite Rothschild sits at the far north of the appellation, bordering Saint-Estèphe and the vineyards of Cos d’Estournel with Ch. Mouton Rothschild to its south.

The Ch. Lafite-Rothschild vineyards cover an impressive 112 hectares on the northern edge of Pauillac. It’s a unique site on the Left Bank: the château sits on a distinct hill that rises up above the winery.

There are three areas of vineyard: the hillsides around the château, the Carruades plateau to the west, and 4.5 hectares in Saint-Estèphe (permitted to be classified as Pauillac as they are a historic part of the estate).

The gravel is much finer aelion sand soil on a subsoil of limestone which gives the wine a distinct finesse and silkier tannins than Pauillac counterparts such as Mouton Rothschild and Latour. Lafite performs exceptionally well in warm vintages thanks to this unique terroir, with the wine rarely above 13.5% alcohol in modern vintages.

The vineyard is split between 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, with Cabernet Franc (3%) and Petit Verdot (2%). On average the vines are 39 years old, although some are significantly older – with the oldest plot planted in 1886. The younger vines are reserved for the second wine, meaning the average age for the Grand Vin is higher.

The same team manages the vineyards at Lafite and Duhart-Milon, with almost everything done by hand. The vines are all farmed organically, with biodynamic trials underway (since 2017) and many other sustainable efforts being explored. The Lafite team has an incredible focus on research and development, looking at how they can edge the wines even closer to perfection, especially with the challenges of a changing climate.

Eric Kohler is the Technical Director at both Lafite and Duhart-Milon (having made the wines since 2016).The grapes are picked by hand and then fermented by plot in a combination of stainless steel and oak.For Ch. Lafite, the pressed wine plays a central role in the final profile of the wine, since it makes up a high proportion of the final blend.

There’s no concern that this will bring any astringency, as they use very gentle extraction techniques throughout vinification. They don’t carry out any cold soak or post fermentation maceration, nor do they do any délestage (the most intense process for extracting colour and tannin from the grapes during fermentation). The press wines are blended with the free-run juice after malolactic fermentation, to add complexity. They are also very precise with their pressing, careful not to push on the dregs/marc and the vats. Their approach remains very gentle and traditional.

The winery is rare in having an on-site cooperage that produces 80% of the barrels used at the estate, from seasoning through to toasting. They have different toast levels for each property. A team of five full-time staff mans the cooperage, producing 5,000 barrels a year.The wines spend between 18 and 20 months in oak (100% new for the Grand Vin), racked and fined with egg white prior to bottling. The second wine is Carruades de Lafite.

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