Chateau Lafite (pronounced "La Feet") or also known as Lie Fay in China markets. I jokingly call it Chatty Laugh It, the happy wine, which is what Simbad called it in the movie Houseguest.
The property was purchased by the Gombaud de Lafite in 1234. At that time, the land was used to produce grain for cereals and cattle. In the 17th century, the land was purchased by the Segur family who started to use the land to produce grapes. Following the French Revolution, the vineyards was sold to a group of Dutch merchants in 1797. At the time of the 1855 Classification system, Lafite was owned by the Vanlerberghe family. In 1868, James Mayer Rothschild purchased the winery and renamed it Chateau Lafite Rothschild. The estate has ever since been in the Rothschild's family hands. Lafite has been managed by Eric de Rothschild since 1974 but in 2018, he began co managing the estate with his daughter, Saskia de Rothschild
The vineyard is one of the largest in Bordeaux and is about 107 hectares. About 15,000 cases of the first wine is produced each year. The vines in the vineyard are planted 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot although the actual blend of the wine with each vintage is quite different from this. The wine is typically aged in 100% new French oak for 18-20 months.
For the 2004 vintage, the blend in the wine is 90.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot and 0.5% Cabernet Franc.
For more information about the winery please see their website at www.lafite.com/fr/
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