Chateau Lafite Rothschild (Bordeaux)
In 1785, Thomas Jefferson, the drafter of the American Declaration of Independence and the third US President, visited Bordeaux. The most famous purchase record is Lafite. In 1986, a bottle of Lafite signed by Jefferson was auctioned by Christie's Auction Company in the UK and sold for US$156,000. It was collected by Malcolm Forbes, the owner of Forbes magazine, and is stored in the Forbes Collection on the first floor of the Forbes Building in New York. It still holds the record for the highest wine auction price.
Chateau Lafite-Rothschild is the most famous winery in Bordeaux and the most famous winery and top wine in the world. As early as the early 18th century, Chateau Lafite was famous throughout Europe. In the official classification of Bordeaux wineries in 1855, Chateau Lafite ranked first in the first category. Its status has not changed to this day. Lafite has always been one of the most collectible wines. Chateau Lafite Rothschild, Pauillac, France (2010)
Wine vintage scorer's score Drinking time 2010 Gaut and Miró 19.5/20 2010 "Champion" 5/5 2020 to 2050 2010 Jancis Robinson 19/20 2025 to 2050 2010 Wine Spectator 20.0/20 2010 Wine Spectator 84/100 2010 Vino Wine Magazine 18.5/20 2030 to 2050 2010 James Shacklin 100 /100 2010 Jean-Marc 95/100 2022 to 2035 2010 "Wine Spectator" 96-99/100 2010 Stephen Tanzer 95-98/100 Chateau Haut-Brion (Bordeaux)
Chateau Haubian is one of the oldest wineries in Bordeaux. 480 years ago, the winery must have been surrounded by vineyards. With the urbanization brought about by the Industrial Revolution in Europe, many vineyards disappeared as the city of Bordeaux expanded, but Haubian stayed. Because Chateau Haut-Bian is the closest to the city of Bordeaux, the grapes have always been the earliest to ripen in history. Being the first to pick grapes marks the beginning of the Bordeaux grape harvest season. The smallest among the “Big 5” Bordeaux wines, it was the first to become famous. April 23, 1525 is the birth date of Chateau Haubian. The first record of a wine named Chateau Haupt was in 1660, when the King of France entertained guests with Hauts’ wine. In 1855, Chateau Hauts was classified as a first-class wine in the Bordeaux classification. village. Masculine temperament: Chateau Latour (Bordeaux)
In 1714, the price of a barrel of Latour wine was equivalent to 4-5 times the price of ordinary Bordeaux wine, which increased to 20 times in 1767. Although Latour wine has long been of high quality and high price, it has not hindered its own continuous innovation. Today, except for the limestone exterior of the original winery that remains the same, the interior of the winery is fully decorated in a modern style and with modern technological controls. All the walls of the fermentation cellar, oak barrel cellar, and bottling hall are decorated with anti-fungal materials. The temperature and humidity are all automatically controlled. The winemaking still maintains the traditional method, but the winemaking process is all automatically controlled. Elegant style: Chateau Margaux (Bordeaux)
Margaux and the above four chateaus are recognized as the top five Bordeaux wineries, but Chateau Margaux is because of the high quality of the wine it makes. It was classified as a prestigious "First Class" winery as early as the 17th century, two centuries earlier than the official classification of 1855. Like the architecture of the winery, the uniqueness of Chateau Margaux is the perfect combination of elegance, charm and majesty. Artistic style: Chateau Mouton Rothschild (Bordeaux)
What makes Mouton famous is its artistic wine label. In 1924, the old owner Baron Philippe hired Cubist artist Jean Carlo to design the Mouton wine label. By the victory of World War II in 1945, Mouton had brewed the wine of the century. In 1973, Mouton was finally upgraded to a First Growth, and Philippe decided to design a new wine label to celebrate.
Since then, Mouton has hired artists to create wine labels every year. Since the famous painter Georges Braque created a wine label painting specifically for Mouton, and printed it on the wine label in the same size as the original, it attracted the interest of world-famous painters, such as the Surrealist master Salvador Dali and the sculptor World-famous painters such as Henry Moore have created works for Mouton. The most famous wine label is Picasso's "Bacchus" in 1973, which vividly demonstrates the joy that wine brings to life. Chateau Mouton currently has 82 hectares of vineyards, of which 77% are planted with Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% with Cabernet Franc, 11% with Merlot and 2% with Petit Verdot. The vineyard management is modernized and grape growing experts are hired to take charge. The planting density is 8,500 trees per hectare and the average age of the trees is 45 years. The harvest is done by hand, and only fully ripe grapes are picked and sent to the winery in baskets. Fermented in oak vats, Mouton is one of the few Bordeaux wineries that continues to use wooden vats today. The general fermentation time is 21 to 31 days; then it is transferred to new oak barrels for maturation for 18 to 22 months. The annual output is about 300,000 bottles. The history of Chateau Mouton Rothschild dates back to the French Bourbon Dynasty. At that time, the entire Bordeaux region was too swampy to grow grapes. The Mouton Rothschild family knew that Louis XIV loved wine, so they purchased vineyards in the southern province of Languedoc and started making wine and then paying tribute to the royal family. The high-quality wine was immediately recognized by the royal family, so that for a long time, the Sun King only drank wine brewed by the Mouton Rothschild family. In recognition of the Mouton Rothschild family's loyalty to the royal family, Louis XIV, who loved art, gave Poussin's famous painting "Bacchanalia" to the Mouton Rothschild family.
After Mr. Philip passed away in 1976, his daughter, the Baroness, inherited her father's legacy and not only invited artists to design wine labels every year, but also began to exhibit the original wine labels around the world. In 1987, the original wine label of Chateau Mouton Rothschild was exhibited in Beijing for the first time. Nine years later, a Chinese painter became the designer of the 1996 wine label of Chateau Mouton Rothschild.