Château Lafite-Rothschild 1978 - photo 1

Château Lafite-Rothschild 1978

Sold
£ 4 000
Auction dateClassic
29.09.2022 00:00UTC +01:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
United Kingdom, London
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 812570
Lot 11 | Château Lafite-Rothschild 1978
CHATEAU LAFITE-ROTHSCHILD

The name Lafite comes from the Gascon language term “la hite”, which means “hillock”. The estate is situated at the northern end of Pauillac, close to Cos d’Estournel which is just over the border in St-Estèphe. The vineyard consists of three major areas: the hillsides around the Château, the adjacent Carruades plateau to the west, and 4.5 hectares in neighboring Saint Estèphe (which is entitled to the Pauillac appellation). The well-drained soils are deep fine gravel up to 4 metres deep mixed with Aeolian sands on a bedrock of tertiary limestone. The best area is on slightly raised land known as the plateau which is just south of the chai where the gravel is very deep and has excellent drainage. Where there are dips in the land, Merlot is normally planted and drainage channels have had to be installed. There are many variations of aspects and soils and consequently the winemakers try and vinify as many lots separately as possible and the same vineyard workers are assigned the same parcels year after to year to ensure they have a deep understanding of the vines and terroir. The average age of the vines on the whole estate is 35 years old. There are some vines younger than 10 years old (about 20 hectares) which are not used in the Grand Vin. Therefore the average age of the vines used in the Grand Vin is 40 years. 18 hectares of vines are more than 50 years old and the oldest plot, called “La Gravière”, are over 120 years old, having been planted in 1886. Vine density ranges from 7,500 to 8,800 vines per hectare.



Only minimal interventions of fertilizers are used. Yields are kept low and harvesting is done by hand in approximately 12 days by up to 350 pickers. Grapes are sorted in the vineyard before being brought in to the two reception bays where different plots are vinifed separately. Vinification takes place half in stainless steel tanks which are equipped with computerized temperature control and half in traditional oak vats, with no cold soak or pigeage. Malolactic fermentation also takes place in the vats before the wine is transferred into new oak barriques (the estate produces its own barrels in their cooperage).

Château Lafite-Rothschild 1978

Pauillac, 1er cru classé

Discoloured capsules. Slightly bin-soiled labels. One nicked label. Levels: four base of neck and eight top-shoulder

12 bottles per lot





Special notice


‡ For wine offered ‘in bond’ only. If you choose to buy the wine in bond no Excise Duty or Clearance VAT will be charged on the hammer.
If you choose to buy the wine out of bond Excise Duty as applicable will be added to the hammer price and Clearance VAT at 20% will be charged on the
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Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
29.09.2022 – 29.09.2022
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
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