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Château Lafite Rothschild has released a new label for the first time in 100 years with the 2018 Anseillan du Château Lafite Rothschild. Since the Carruades de Lafite, introduced in the late 19th century and called Moulin le Carruades until the 1980s, Domaines Baron de Rothschild (DBR) has not had a new wine with the Lafite name. However, the vineyards for the Carruades have belonged to the château since 1845.
The 2018 vintage is the 150th since the Rothschild family took over Château Lafite. The Anseillan is named after a small settlement that has belonged to the Lafite estate since the 1970s and where originally farm workers and farmers from Lafite lived. The vineyards for the Anseillan are located in the immediate vicinity of Château Lafite Rothschild.
As the managing director of DBR, Saskia de Rothschild explained, the idea for this wine was born during the blending sessions in 2014. Since then, a few hundred magnum bottles per year have been vinified in each vintage. "In 2021, we tasted all the trials we had produced for each past vintage and found that there was something about the wines. As a result, the team decided to release this wine with the 2018 vintage," she said.
The 2018 Anseillan du Château Lafite Rothschild is 48 per cent Merlot, 39 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon and 13 per cent Petit Verdot. In the vineyards, viticulture director Louis Caillard and his team are trying out new cultivation techniques to increase biodiversity. Domaines Baron de Rothschild will convert all its vineyards to organic and biodynamic farming. As Caillard says, Anseillan is "an incredible playground in terms of terroir, as there are three different soils, gravelly, clayey and clay-limestone."
The wine is sold in upmarket wine shops and restaurants and currently costs £65 (around €76) in the UK.
(al / source: drinksbusiness; photos: Château Lafite Rothschild)