Lafite Rothschild Winery, Upper Briant Winery, Latour Winery, Mouton Rothschild Winery, Margaux Winery.
1 wine ranked first: Lafite winery (Bordeaux), Lafite winery.
Galeries Lafayette is one of the top wineries with Bordeaux wine rating 1855. Together with Obiang Winery, Latour Winery, Margaux Winery and Maotong Winery selected by 1973, they are called "Five Famous Wineries" in Bordeaux. Lafite winery is considered to be the most elegant among the "Big Five". The earliest record of Lafite can be traced back to AD 1234. In this era, there were many monasteries in French villages and towns. Vertheuil monastery in the north of pauillac village in Bordeaux is where Lafite Castle is today. Fort Lafite has been the property of medieval lords since14th century. "la hite" in Gascon dialect (formerly known as Gascon Province in the Pyrenees Mountains in southwest France) means "mountain", hence the name "Lafite". It is likely that someone planted vines on the land here at this time. But the real scale climate will not be formed until the arrival of the Siegel family in the17th century. It was in their hands that Lafite developed into a famous big grape plantation.
Marquis Jaques de Ségur was the first man to build a vineyard in Lafite, and the time was about 1670 to 1680. His son Alexandre inherited the manor in 1695, and obtained the management right of Chateau de Latour, another famous winery nearby, through marriage. This is the first chapter in the history of two Bordeaux wineries, Lafite and Latour. Lafite-Rothschild winery is the most famous winery in Bordeaux, as well as the most famous winery and top wine in the world. As early as the beginning of18th century, Lafite Winery was famous in Europe. In the first officially recognized classification in the history of Bordeaux 65438-0855, Lafite Winery ranked first, and its status has not changed so far. Lafite wine has always been at the top of the most collectible wines. String 1
1785, Thomas Jefferson, the drafter of the American Declaration of Independence and the third president of the United States, visited Bordeaux and bought the most famous Lafite wine. 1986, a bottle of Lafite wine with Jefferson's signature was auctioned at Christie's auction company in England and sold for 156000 USD. It was collected by Malcolm Forbes, the owner of Forbes magazine, and kept in the Forbes collection on the first floor of Forbes Building in new york, and has maintained the highest auction price of wine so far.
Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Sauvignon account for 765,438+0%, and other grape varieties include 25% Merlot Merlot, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Sauvignon, and less than 65,438+0% Little Vito. However, it should be pointed out that those young grapes (with 20 hectares) under the age of 10 are not used to cultivate top wines, so the grapes that make top wines are all about 40 years old. Grape area over 50 years old 18 hectare. Grapes on a piece of land named "La Gravière" have a history of 1 18 years and were planted in 1886. The other two grapes on the ground have a history of more than 80 years.
The vineyard is managed by Charles Chevallier, technical director of Lafite. Since Lafite winery is adjacent to Ahmilon winery, since 1962, the two wineries have been managed by a team. All adopt traditional brewing technology, strictly control unit output and pick by hand. Throughout the year, a lot of work in the vineyard is done by hand.
Production: Red wine from Lafite Manor, a palace-level wine-making holy place, including Lafite brand Ch. The total annual output of Lafite Rothschild and deputy brand Carruades de Lafite is * * * 45,000 cases.
2. The oldest star: Obiang Winery (Bordeaux)
Obiang Winery is the oldest top winery in the classification system of 1855 Bordeaux Wineries. Obiang is the oldest winery with the smallest vineyard area, and 1855 is listed as a first-class winery. 1855 Grading System All graded parks belong to Medoc District, with the only exception of Obiang in the graveyard. In addition, Haut-Brion was the only survivor of Grave when French grapes were generally attacked by root nodule aphid disease, which was inseparable from the meticulous care of grapes by the manor. Therefore, Upper Briant Winery has the reputation of "King of Graf". Archaeological data show that grapes were planted in this area of Obiang Winery as early as Roman times. However, the earliest official record of vineyards appeared after 1423, when all wines were named after villages. Take Obiang as an example. At that time, Bondak, the owner of the winery, first named his wine after his surname. Later, due to the growing popularity of wine, the name of the winery replaced the surname. Since then, a new concept of wine with the same name as the winery was born. Samuel Pepi, a famous wine critic at that time, wrote on April 1663: "... this French wine named Obiang is wonderful and unique, and it is the first time for me to taste such a special wine ..." Obiang Winery is the oldest top winery in the classification system of Bordeaux wineries from 65438 to 0855. From the beginning, everyone who once served as the person in charge of managing the winery was committed to continuing the unique land handed down by ancestors and predecessors, and had rich experience in management innovation and reform in order to have today's brilliant achievements.
Haut-Brion is also the earliest red wine exported to the United States in history. As the French ambassador, Thomas Jefferson sent six cases of excellent Brion wine back to his hometown of Virginia at the end of his trip to France, which shows that politicians knew how to enjoy life after busy work hundreds of years ago. Among American celebrities, biographer samuel pepys, philosopher John Locke and "greedy" President Tom all praised this winery in their articles.
In the past four centuries, this winery rich in royal wines has changed hands several times, and its owners are many outstanding figures in history. Among them are Admiral, Archbishop, French First Commander * * * and Consul of Guiné e, three mayors of Bordeaux, and the talented Charles-Maurice de talleyrand-Perigord (he was the Minister of Foreign Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs when he bought the winery. These various prominent owners invisibly add a touch of brilliance to Haut-Brion's elegant image. The last change of ownership made him an American industry. The buyer with deep pockets is C Douglas Tommy Tam, an American banker and American ambassador to Paris. When Kennedy was in power, the American economy was in good condition, which also contributed to this unprecedented transaction to some extent.
The winery is now owned by French clarence dillon and Duchess de mutch. Americans may also be proud of clarence dillon's top French vineyards. In fact, before Mr. Tommy Tam bought the winery, 80% of the red wine in Upper Tommy Tam was exported to the United States. So this shrewd businessman obviously completed a very profitable business.
1960, with the support of bold Americans, the winemakers of the manor began to use innovative stainless steel fermentation barrel technology to make wine. In order to break the centuries-old tradition of brewing red wine in French oak barrels, Bordeaux famous villages have created a new era famous village red wine with unique taste. 1970 aging won the fourth place in the famous evaluation of 1976 Paris wine tasting.
Obiang Winery is located in Upper Briant Winery in Leonon, Lower Paysac, Grave District. The vineyard area of the winery is 65,438+007.5 mu, which is as big as latour. There are 43 hectares of red grapes, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot and 65,438+08% French Cabernet Sauvignon. The original wine Chateau Haut-Brion and the sub-brand wine Bahans de Haut-Brion are brewed. The average age of the plant is 35 years, the planting density is 6000 grapes per hectare, and the annual output is about 20000 boxes. Another 2.7 hectares are planted with 63% Semillon and 37% Sauvignon Blanc. Brew Chateau Haut-Brion Blanc, the top white wine in Bordeaux. Sauvignon Blanc is the earliest ripe grape and the first variety to be picked every year. Because of the climate characteristics of vineyards in Obiang, grapes ripen early, so picking Sauvignon Blanc in Obiang has become the beginning of Bordeaux harvest season. Grapes are fermented in brand-new small oak barrels after harvest, and then cultivated in small oak barrels with wine mud. Prepare in spring and cultivate for 20-22 months. Hongyan Rong wine is top in the world in price and quality. Her goal is to challenge Montrachet, the most precious white wine in the world. Obiang white wine is characterized by a mixture of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc, with a high proportion of Semillon. 20065438+0 Chateau Haut-Brion Blanc is a better year. That year, there was little rainfall, plenty of sunshine, high maturity of grapes and perfect aroma and fruit flavor. The wine-colored wheat straw is yellow and golden, with the aroma of lemon, citrus and white flowers, beeswax, roasted hazelnut, vanilla and; The taste is wide, round and rich, wrapped in elegant acid, with layered aroma and long aftertaste. This is a white wine with aging potential. String 1
Bordeaux's top wineries rarely appear on the top wine list twice, except Obiang Winery, which is the only winery with a top wine list of red and white wines. There are many exceptions to Obiang Winery, which was originally famous in Europe by the name of Bordeaux Winery. Another exception is written in the classification of 1855. At that time, all wineries with red wine classification were located in Medoc (Médoc), and only Obiang winery was located in Graves outside Medoc, and it was one of the first-class wineries. Obiang Winery is not only famous for its red wine, but also for its excellent white wine, with rich aroma, and the aroma is the most complicated among Bordeaux dry white wines. Round taste, delicate texture, long and charming, unique style and extraordinary aging potential. Obiang is the king of Bordeaux dry white wine, and the output of white wine is very small, so it is difficult to find the price. The output of white wine brewed by Obiang winery in the early days was very small. When Graf white wine was graded at 1959, Obiang white wine was not included, but included. The annual output of Obiang white wine is about 500-800 cases, which is the best dry white wine in Bordeaux.
The characteristic of Obiang Castle is that when young, the wine is very light and fragrant, and the color is not too dark. Its wine aroma is the most complex in the world, with smoke, burnt flavor, blackberry and slight truffle aroma. Some restaurants think that Obiang Castle can be felt through the tip of the tongue. Therefore, it is a kind of wine that belongs to "beauty", and its temperament is friendly. The older it is, the more beautiful it is! No wonder Fort Obiang is always rated as the first in every "blind product", because it will not be "served" in expensive new oak barrels for more than two years because of strict selection, so it will exude that horrible attraction and rich oak fragrance, and it is "aggressive". On the contrary, it will politely wink at the taster, giving off a fresh and pleasant atmosphere. Experts will certainly give the highest evaluation!
3. Masculinity: Latour Chateau Latour (Bordeaux).
La tour means "tower" in French, and the sign of the winery is a lion riding on the tower. Because 1378, a castle was built here, overlooking the mouth of the Gironde River, which is strategically important and has always been a battleground for military strategists. There was a battle here during the Hundred Years' War between Britain and France. The original tower was a two-story square stone tower, which no longer exists. The photo of the round castle of Latour Winery that we usually see now is actually the homing pigeon building built in17th century.
17 14 years, the price of a barrel of latour wine was 4-5 times that of ordinary bordeaux wine, and it increased to 20 times in 1767. Although Latour wine has long been of high quality and high price, it has not hindered its continuous innovation. Nowadays, in addition to the limestone building appearance of the original restaurant, the interior of the winery is completely decorated with modern style and modern technology control. The walls of fermentation pit, oak barrel pit and bottling hall are all decorated with mildew-proof materials, and the temperature and humidity are all automatically controlled. The traditional brewing method is still maintained, but the brewing process is fully controlled automatically. The great history of wine-making in Latour winery began at 17 18. When the Siger family who owned Lafayette married the daughter of Latour winery, Alexander, the "wine prince", took over the winery, acquired Demaotong winery and integrated many famous wineries. The Siegel family owned Latour winery until 1962. 1963, the British consortium acquired 75% of the shares, and then increased to 93%. It was not until 1993 that the shares invested by Britain were acquired by Pi Nuo, the richest French investor in Europe, for 86 million pounds, that Latour winery returned to the embrace of the French. It is worth mentioning that after the death of the wine prince, his family owned shares but had no intention of managing the winery, so they had to entrust the winery manager to take care of it. The separation of management right and ownership makes the annual winery accounts and business reports detailed and complete, and the information has been enriched for more than 250 years.
Latour winery has been appreciated by the British royal family and nobles as early as18th century. At that time, Latour was about 20 times more expensive than other Bordeaux wines. 1787, Thomas Jefferson, a former American president obsessed with French wine, praised Latour Winery. The classification of 1855 further consolidated the position of Latour winery in the wine industry. Latour winery pays attention to innovation and is one of the earliest wineries to use stainless steel fermentation tanks, second only to Obiang winery.
Latour winery is located in pauillac village, a sub-production area of Medoc, 50 kilometers northwest of Bordeaux, with unique climate and soil conditions. The vineyard covers an area of 65 hectares, of which 47 hectares are located in the center of the territory, named Enclos, where latour's great wines come from. Aged in new oak barrels 18 months. Cabernet Sauvignon is the main grape variety, accounting for about 75%, and Merlot accounts for 20%. Rich tannins usually take decades to mature.
Latour Winery's deputy brand wine is "la tour Fort)Les Forts de la tour, which is made from grapes from Central Vineyard 12 and grapes from other gardens, and is brewed in semi-new oak barrels. There is also a third-class wine "Pauillac villag”Pauillac, which is very cost-effective.
Latour winery was known to Chinese people as early as the late Qing Dynasty. In the wine spectrum at that time, this top-class wine was called "Dajiu", transliterated as "Dura", which seemed to be more regal than "Latour".
Tasting: Latour Winery is famous for its most powerful, gorgeous, rich and mellow wine, which has a very strong aging potential.
Brewing: Latour Winery adopts the natural gravity method, and the grapes are picked and sent to the fermentation cellar by forklift. After the whole bunch of grapes are double-selected by removing stalks, they are crushed and enter the fermentation tank. 66 stainless steel temperature-controlled fermentation tanks were used to ferment grapes of different varieties and plots. The fermenters are controlled by computers, and the temperature of each fermenter can be clearly seen from the control panel and can be adjusted as needed. From June 5438 to February every year, new wine is cultivated in oak barrels. Latour's top wines are all cultivated in new French oak barrels. In the first month of oak barrel culture, the technical director of wine making and the person in charge of wine cellar will often try to determine how to mix the pressed wine into first-class wine according to the structure of the wine in that year. Before the summer of the following year, the oak barrels will be moved to the oak barrel cellar for further cultivation. When the wine is put into oak barrels for one year, it is clarified with egg white, and the final clarification is 45 days before bottling, and then bottled into storage pits.
4. Artist style: Mouton Rothschild of Mu Tong Winery (Bordeaux).
Mouton Mouton Rothschild is located in pauillac, Bordeaux, where three of the top five Bordeaux wineries are gathered. Mu Tong Winery is famous all over the world, so there are many Chinese names. The use of Mouton here has several meanings: First, Mouton's pronunciation is similar to that of French, and it is not easy to be confused. Secondly, in China culture, the phoenix tree is a symbol of good luck. There is an old saying in China, "If there is no plane tree, it is not called golden phoenix". Visible with phoenix tree, golden phoenix came. The history of Mouton has indeed proved the name of golden phoenix. Third, for wine lovers, the name of wine is auspicious, whether it is for drinking, giving gifts or collecting, it is a pleasant thing. Mouton, a top wine with collection level, will increase in value with the extension of collection time, also known as golden phoenix.
What makes Mouton famous is the artistic wine label. 1924, Baron Philip, the owner of the old Zhuang Autonomous Region, hired cubist artist Jean Kalou to design Mouton wine labels. By 1945, when the Second World War was won, Mouton brewed the century wine. Eventually upgraded to a first-class winery, Philip decided to design a new wine label to celebrate. Since then, Mouton has hired artists to create wine labels every year. George Braque, a famous painter, created a wine label painting specially for Mouton and printed it on the wine label with the same size as the original one, which aroused the interest of the the world famous paintings family. World famous painters such as salvador dali and sculptor henry moore began to write for Mouton. The most famous wine label is 1973 Picasso's Carnival of Dionysus, which proudly shows the joy that wine brings to life.
Mu Tong Winery now has 82 hectares of vineyards, of which 77% is Cabernet Sauvignon, 65,438+00% is Cabernet Franc, 65,438+065, 438+0% is Merlot and 2% is delicious. The management of vineyards is modernized, and grape planting experts are hired. The planting density is 8500 plants per hectare, with an average age of 45 years. When picking, grapes are picked manually, and only fully mature grapes will be picked and sent to wine shops in baskets. Mouton is one of the few Bordeaux wineries that use wooden fermentation barrels for fermentation. The general fermentation time is 2 1 ~ 3 1 day; Then/kloc-0 is aged in new oak barrels for 8 to 22 months, with an annual output of about 300,000 bottles. Mu Tong Winery has the most advanced laboratory in the world. Patrick Léon, the current winemaker, was the manager of winemaking laboratory under the supervision of Bordeaux Agricultural Chamber of Commerce, and he was very familiar with and attached importance to modern winemaking technology. From this perspective, Mouton's wine can be said to be brewed by combining thousands of years of French wine-making tradition and modern science.
Cabernet Sauvignon is the main red wine in Mouton. According to different years, different proportions of Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Little Vito are added. Mouton wine has typical characteristics of Cabernet Sauvignon, with ripe black vinegar chestnut flavor, coffee, roasted wood aroma and strong tannins. It needs to be aged in a bottle for 7- 15 years before drinking. It is one of the top wine collections in the world.
Mu Tong Winery's Wine Art Museum is very famous. This museum, which was opened by the French Minister of Culture, Andrew Merris, on 1962, specializes in collecting all kinds of wine-related artworks. From the collection of gold and silver tableware, it has gradually developed into a collection of paintings, porcelain, pottery, glassware, bronzes, ivory carvings, sculptures and woven works of art. It is a good museum to appreciate wine and art.
5. Elegant style: Margaux (Bordeaux)
Margaux, together with the above four wineries, is recognized as the top five wineries in Bordeaux. However, Margaux Winery was listed as a prestigious "first-class" winery as early as17th century, two centuries earlier than the official classification of 1855. Just like the architecture of the winery, Margaux Winery is unique in the perfect combination of elegance, charm and grandeur.
Margaux Winery has a long history of hundreds of years. As early as 1787, Thomas Jefferson, a former American president who was obsessed with French wine, once rated Margaux as the first famous bordeaux village. The Leistnake family has owned Margaux Winery for a long time. At 1978, the Mentzelopoulos family, who runs a chain store, bought the winery, and invested a lot of human and financial resources to make Margaux's wine quality by going up one flight of stairs reach its peak.
Margaux Winery is one of the "top five" wineries that adhere to the tradition. It not only keeps manual operation, but also still uses oak fermentor. Now, top wineries such as latour and Obiang have used stainless steel fermentors. Generally, the red wine of Margaux Winery needs to be fermented in a fermentor for 3 weeks, and then put in a new oak barrel 18-24 months. The real wine in the winery is rich in tannins and can be stored for a long time. It should be drunk after 20-30 years.
Margaux winery is mainly red wine, with a small amount of white wine. The real wine is about150,000 bottles of Margaux (the average output in the last three years), and the second-class brand red wine of Margaux is Pavillon Rouge du Chateau (about 200,000 bottles of Margaux Hong Ting), which is the earliest second-class brand wine in Bordeaux. Margo has been producing playing cards for more than 100 years. The average age of 82 hectares of red grapes is 35 years. The red wine of Margaux Winery is constantly changing with its rich and complex aroma, rich layering and enduring charm. It is characterized by mellow, detailed and rich taste, and smooth and strong tannins. Of course, every year's wine is different, and it is a unique wine that combines elegance and charm with richness, exquisiteness and softness with strength.
Margaux has 65,438+02 hectares of white grapes, with an average age of 25 years. All of them are Pavillon Blanc du Chateau Margaux (about 33,000 bottles in Margaux White Pavilion), which is used to brew one of the best white wines in Bordeaux. The annual output of Margaux Village is about 20,000 cases of wine.
Margaux red wine is bright in color, sweet and elegant in smell, compact and meticulous in body structure, gentle and elegant in entrance and approachable. You feel that she is strong, but not on her head. She is comfortable drinking and doesn't get drunk easily. If you open your mouth slightly, you will feel that your mouth is pure, quiet and cool. Margaux is a kind of wine suitable for calm tasting and embodiment. Some people describe Margo as a beautiful and exquisite female singer, or as a musical experience with lingering sound.