Château Lafite Rothschild
Château Lafite Rothschild is a French wine estate of Bordeaux wine, located in Pauillac in France, owned by members of the Rothschild family since the 19th century, and rated as a First Growth under the 1855 Bordeaux Classification.
See also: Laffitte (disambiguation) and Lafitte (disambiguation)Lafite was one of five wine-producing châteaux of Bordeaux originally awarded First Growth status in the 1855 Classification. Since then, it has been a consistent producer of one of the world's most expensive red wines. A bottle of 1869 Château Lafite Rothschild holds the world record for the most expensive bottle of wine sold at auction for $233,973 in 2010.[1]
Counterfeiting[edit]
In early November 2012, police in the city of Wenzhou, China, seized nearly 10,000 bottles of suspected counterfeit Châteaux Lafite Rothschild. Lafite is very popular among China's nouveau riche, but analysts suspect that between 50 and 70 per cent of wine labeled "Château Lafite Rothschild" in China is fake. If genuine, the collection seized in Wenzhou would have been worth up to US$16 million.[17][18][19]
Lower Neck Grand Vin 1979
A dry white Bordeaux from one of the many second labels of the Lafite Rothschild family
In addition to the first growth, around a third of the wine is released as a second wine under the label Carruades de Lafite.[22]
Price[edit]
Across all vintages Lafite Rothschild is one of the most expensive wines in the world, with the average price per 750 ml bottle reaching $911.[23] Prices for Carruades de Lafite rose dramatically due in part to Chinese demand, with the prices of its 2005 and 2000 vintage fetching over £10,000 per case. After peaking in 2011, however, the price of some vintages halved in two years.[24]