History
The history of Château Lafite dates back to the 13th century. However, its reputation as a great wine estate dates back to the 17th century thanks to the De Ségur family. From the eighteenth century, the Marquis Nicolas Alexandre De Ségur will strive to consolidate the first successes and improve wine techniques. He will get at this time the prestigious title of “Wine of the King“. The wine of Lafite was even compared at that time to the ambrosia of the gods of Olympus and prescribed as the best tonic. On the eve of the French Revolution, Lafite is already at the top of the wine hierarchy. The Paris World Fair in 1855 awards Château Lafite as the first of the Premiers Crus.
Later on, The Château Lafite was acquired by Baron James de Rothschild in 1868 and this year marked the minds because the barrel was sold at a premium price record that will remain unmatched for more than a century. Unfortunately, The Second World War had a strong impact, but thanks to Baron Elie de Rothschild, the Château regained its nobility thanks to its many projects of reorganization and renovation. As for Baron Éric, he enabled Lafite to stand out by creating the circular cellar, setting up a new technical team and by associating the estate with famous photographers.
Terroir
The 112-hectare vineyard is made up of Cabernet Sauvignon , Merlot , Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The techniques used remain traditional and incorporate a strict control of yields. First, harvesting is done by hand, but many hand-made work throughout the year are also necessary, little or no chemical fertilizer and some manure additions allow the vine to reach a high age. The grubbing is done reluctantly when the vines are generally more than 80 years old. The ageing time in oak barrels is 18 to 20 months. In total, the average annual production is 16,000 cases.
