Château Lafite-Rothschild is located in the commune of Pauillac in the Pauillac AOC on the left bank of the Bordeaux region. The building is an 18th-century villa.

Owner: The Rothschild family of the Paris bank since 1868 when Baron James de Rothschild bought it. Baron Eric de Rothschild took over here in 1974, aged 34, following on from his uncle Elie, who had been in charge since 1946. The Rothschilds also own Château Anseillan and the neighbouring Château Duhart-Milon, both in Pauillac, Château Rieussec in Sauternes, and joint ventures in Chile and California.

Organic certification: 2019 No (as of 04 Feb 2019).

Winery: New circular barrel cellar (‘chai’) in 1989.

Red wines

Pauillac AOC, Moulin des Carruades: The original name for the second wine, now updated. See immediately below.

Pauillac AOC, Carruades de Lafite: The second wine.

Pauillac AOC, Château Lafite-Rothschild: The ‘grand vin’. Had a ‘bad patch in the 1960s and early 1970s’, (Hugh Johnson: Wine Companion: 1991, p.62). | 1797 Said to be the first Bordeaux to have been chateau-bottled. | 1996 Stephen Spurrier says Lafite’s Cabernet was so good it represented 84% of the grand Vin with only 8% Merlot.

Bibliography

Steven Spurrier, ‘Bargain Bordeaux’, Decanter, September 2008, p.32-36.