Ruth Paget: Visiting Chateau Lafite-Rothschild in Pauillac, France with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Visiting Chateau Lafite-Rothschild in Pauillac, France with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Even though Château Lafite-Rothschild did not advertise visits on their French-language website, I called them to see if I could obtain a visit for my 25^th wedding anniversary.

I am fluent in French and know from previous experience that that can work magic in getting things done in France. “At the worst, they can say ‘no’ or refer me to another château for a private visit,” I said to myself. I called, exchanged emails, and secured a tour five months in advance.

On the appointed day, my husband Laurent and I drove to Pauillac and did reconnaissance on where hard-to-find Château Lafite-Rothschild is located. We also visited the wine store in town and let them know we were visiting Lafite-Rothschild and looked through the stock that they had. We promised we would be back after the tour.

We still had time left before the tour, so we ate a seafood lunch by the Gironde Estuary with a white Bordeaux Graves wine. We bought a laguiole knife with a wood handle that is perfect for cutting off wine bottle neck covers the right way. Then we set out along the Route des Châteaux and took pictures of the showplace châteaux along the way.

Bordeaux is very commercial; it was created to serve foreign trade purposes. It differs from Burgundy in this aspect, which has a more religious foundation to its winemaking. This is not a criticism of Bordeaux. The region has created an incredibly reliable luxury product that is available at several different price levels.

Lafite-Rothschild’s tradition as a luxury good began in the last 3^rd of the 17^th century according to Jancis Robinson in The Oxford Companion to Wine. Bordeaux wines taste very good, because they are blends. Each varietal brings something to the whole. This blending of varietals differentiates Bordeaux wines from a single varietal cabernet sauvignon, for example.

The Oxford Companion to Wine writes that Lafite-Rothschild wines are made up of:

71% Cabernet Sauvignon

3% Cabernet Franc

25% Merlot

1% Petit Verdot

This combination alone does not tell the whole story of Lafite-Rothschild’s success. I could see on our tour that the Château is hospital clean in almost every cellar and uses very sanitary production techniques to clarify their wines.

When we began our tour with the Château’s sommelier, he confirmed that Lafite-Rothschild is one of the First Growths listed in the 1855 Classification of 60 leading Médoc châteaux. There are five levels of classification in the 1855 listing, which is still referred to today for quality wines. The 1855 Classification was established by Emperor Napoleon III (1808 – 1873) to help sell French wines at the Exposition Universelle.

Before we walked down into the cellars, we examine a glass case with a cut of what the vine roots had to go down through. I suspected it was for cabernet sauvignon as it was full of gravel on one layer and ended with sand. The sommelier told us that water extended down to the sand, which was about six feet down in the glass case.

There was also a map in this antechamber, which showed the vineyards – first and second growth areas. 1/3 of Lafite-Rothschild’s production is produced by younger vines under the label Carrudes de Lafite according to The Oxford Companion to Wine.

On the tour we went through the spotless cellar rooms where wines are “elaborated.” Winemaking is like music for me; I do not want to know all the details. I just want to enjoy a glass or two of red Bordeaux with duck breast.

The one messy room at Château Lafite-Rothschild was the cellar with antique wines. The Lafite-Rothschild visitor’s book says there are bottles in this cellar dating from 1797, 1798, 1801, 1805, and 1811. Those must have been good harvest years. The sommelier assured me that they were not vinegar, but did need decanting to be drunk.

Once past this room, there is the cellar with all the barrels for aging. The barrels are all made at Lafite-Rothschild. They are beautiful examples of French craftsmanship. (The barrels made here also go to Château Rieussec in the Sauternes, which is also a Rothschild family property.)

When we went into the round cellar for aging second-year wine, the sommelier explained that Lafite-Rothschild clarifies wine of debris with egg whites before the second aging. I remarked that the same technique is used in the sherry region of Spain. I suggested that Lafite-Rothschild should make and sell Portuguese flan, which uses egg yolks only as a winemaking byproduct.

Dinners are held in this round cellar, and I thought flan would be a good dessert for one. The room is the work of Catalan architect Riccardo Bofill. Baron Eric de Rothschild commissioned the room in 1987 according to the Château’s visitor’s book.

We finished our tour with a wine tasting and many thanks for the lovely visit.

By Ruth Paget - Author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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