1997 CARRUADES DE LAFITE 1997

Château Lafite Rothschild, 1st growth in 1855, is one of Bordeaux's most famous chateaux. It shares with the greatest the top of the official classification of 1855. Located on the Pauillac appellation, the vineyard of 103 ha is divided into three parcels: the hills surrounding the Château, the Carruades plateau to the west and a parcel of 4.5 ha in the neighboring town of Saint-Estèphe. Most of the terroir is composed of fine and deep gravel mixed with Aeolian sand on a tertiary limestone bedrock. The grape varieties are 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. The average age of the vineyards of the great wine is 40 years, the 20 ha of young vines (less than 10 years) being used for the development of the second wine. There are also extremely old plots of over 80 years, one called "La Gravière" dating back to 1886. The maturation of the wine is carried out for 18 to 20 months in 100% new oak barrels. Lafite Rothschild produces about 15,000 to 20,000 cases per year. The estate also produces a second wine, the Carruades de Lafite, for around 25,000 to 30,000 cases. The name of the second wine of Chateau Lafite Rothschild of the "plateau Carruades, where stood a group of plots, which was bought by the castle in the nineteenth century, and which adjoined the rump Castle. The "Carruades de Lafite" were once called "Moulin des Carruades", then take the name, Carruades de Lafite.

The mythical vintages of Chateau Lafite Rothschild are 1921, 1945, 1959, 1982, 1986, 1988 and 2000, 2005 in recent years.