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COLLECTION BARONS DE ROTHSCHILD (Lafite)LEGENDESAGARESERVE SPECIALE FRANCE/BORDEAUX

Savoir-faire from past generations and an eye on the future

Owner of Château Lafite Rothschild for five generations, the Rothschild family settled in Bordeaux in 1868. Today they are the owners of Château Lafite Rothschild, Duhart-Milon, l’Evangile and Rieussec.

Known throughout the world for their prestigious vineyards, the Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) have also, for some years, produced a range of wines ideal for everyday drinking and more accessible than the Grands Crus. The wines were initially made for close friends and family – hence the name “Réserves des Barons”.

To continue the spirit and tradition of the “Réserves”, Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) took the decision to create the DBR (Lafite) Collection, a range of wines from the four ma-jor Bordeaux AOCs (Bordeaux, Bordeaux Dry White, Médoc and Pauillac) that offer wine drinkers classic Bordeaux wines with imme-diate charm and appeal.

The aim of the Collection: set a benchmark style

Any wine from a family of wine producers with as high a reputation as Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) must represent the best of its kind in every appellation. Consequently, the wines in the Collection are made under the supervision of Oenologist, Diane Flamand, with the same care and attention to detail as DBR (Lafite) gives to its Grands Vins.

The Pauillac and Médoc wines are produced from DBR (Lafite)’s own vineyards and from neighbouring vineyards. In the case of the two Bordeaux appellations, the technical team selects the vineyards and plots and supervises the vinification of the grapes from partner

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COLLECTION BARONS DE ROTHSCHILD (Lafite)

CollectionBarons de Rothschild (Lafite)

HISTORY

suppliers. The Bordeaux reds and whites are selections made from the most successful areas of the Entre-Deux-Mers. As early as possible after fermentation, the DBR (Lafite) team selects the best batches of wine by successive blind tastings, enabling them not only to ensure top quality wine but also to control each stage of the winemaking and ageing. The aim, quite simply, is to produce top-quality wines, which truly reflect the DBR (Lafite) house style.

«The DBR (Lafite) style»

A style favouring balance, purity and quality of fruit and the true expression of terroir.

The aim is to produce wines that reveal the freshness and elegance of Bordeaux, rather than highly concentrated, oaky, “show” wines.

The wines are released after several months or years of ageing; the time spent in barrel and thebottling date are both determined by the character of the vintage and the specific appellation.All the Collection wines are ready to drink as soon as they are marketed.

Average annual volume is approximately 4 million bottles (all appellations). Collection wines are labelled Légende, Saga and Réserve Spéciale, white and red wines are available.


LEGENDE Bordeaux Red and Bordeaux White

Of all the fine wine growing regions in the world, no other can ri-val Bordeaux in the range and diversity of the wines it produces. From dry, medium and sweet white wines to Clairets, plummy, spicy, Merlot-dominated blends and classic Cabernets, and from imposing, world-famous Châteaux to tiny properties of a handful of hectares, there are wines for any possible occasion, whether it is Sunday lunch with friends and family or a banquet for Heads of State.

Within all this diversity, the aim of the Collection is to produce fresh and elegant wines, which reflect the region’s deep-rooted and unique context but which remain accessible.

Légende Bordeaux Red is a wine to enjoy every day. It is based on traditional grape varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc. The predominant Cabernet Sauvignon gives the wine classic elegance, while the DBR (Lafite) house style ensures it is soft, round and flattering on the palate.

White wine-making today has become dependent on hi-tech winemaking technology and techniques that produce clean, fruity, albeit rather bland, wines. In making Légende Bordeaux White, (Sauvignon, Sémillon and, in certain vintages, Muscadelle) the aim has been to take the wine drinker beyond this. Sémillon dominates the blend and this places it very much in the “R” de Rieussec, tradition, (“R” de Rieussec being the dry white made at DBR (Lafite)’s Sauternes property, Château Rieussec). The wine is intensely fresh and lively, with enough character and depth to waken the most jaded palate.

BORDEAUX RED

Grape varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc

Length of maturation:in vats during 9 months, 40% in oak

Average annual production:

60 000 caisses

BORDEAUX WHITE

Grape varieties: Sauvignon, Sémillon, Muscadelle

Average annual production: 10 000 caisses


THE WINES

LEGENDEPauillac

Possibly the best known and most celebrated appellation of the Médoc, Pauillac is blessed with a homogeneous terroir of excep-tional quality and benefits from the presence of the neighbouring Gironde estuary. It is hardly surprising that Pauillac is a legenda-ry name for wine-lovers world wide and features no fewer than 18 Classified Growths, of which three are First Growths.

The quality of Pauillac’s unique terroir is characterised by gently rolling, gravelly hilltops on clay subsoil. This provides natural drainage and enables the vines to develop deep root systems. Cabernet Sauvignon is the dominant grape of the appellation.

Légende Pauillac is made from grapes grown in Domaines des Barons de Rothschild (Lafite)’s own vineyards and, once again, the wine is made with the same attention to detail as for its great wines.

Produced from the estate’s younger vines, its structure is less concentrated than its more prestigious relatives, allowing it to age more quickly and so be enjoyed sooner. Nevertheless, the wine shows the same classic Pauillac qualities of a full, complex wine with backbone and balance.

Grape varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc

Length of maturation :in vats during 3 to 9 months, 40% in oak

Average annual production: 5 000 cases


LEGENDE Médoc

The Médoc vineyard, north of the city of Bordeaux covers over 15,000 hectares and stretches out onto a peninsula, which is ideally nestled between the Golfe de Gascogne and the widest estuary in France, the Gironde. This unique and strangely atmos-pheric piece of land has built its reputation over the centuries and all over the world. It is made up of gravelly soils of various thic-knesses, which originated in erosions of soil from the Pyrenees Mountains, washed down by the Garonne River a thousand years ago. These stony, gravelly and sandy soils filter well and are able to retain the heat of the sun to help ripen grapes.

Légende Médoc is made with all the care and attention that goes into the making of a Grand Cru. The grapes (mainly Cabernet Sauvignon) come from selected plots and are required to meet the highest standards: yields are strictly limited – only perfectly ripe, healthy grapes that have reached optimum maturity are used. Ageing takes place in barrel respecting traditional methods.

Légende Médoc offers the wine drinker all the hallmarks of a Cabernet Sauvignon-dominatedBordeaux but without the need for long ageing. Why wait when it can be drunk straight away.

Grape varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon , Merlot and Cabernet Franc

Length of maturation:in vats during 3 to 9 months, 50% in oak



SAGABordeaux Red, Bordeaux White

Bordeaux’s reputation may have been founded on its Grands Crus but, overall, this exceptional area is made up of a variety of terroirs which offer a wide range of wines.

Common to all Bordeaux wines, however well-known or undiscovered, is their freshness, which isnot only part of their elegance but which also reminds us that wine is, above all, a “drink”, even if it is the most sophisticated drink of them all.

Designed as everyday wines, Saga Bordeaux Red is made from traditional Bordeaux grape va-rieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc. The proportions of each vary with each vintage but, nature permitting, Cabernet Sauvignon is almost always the predominant grape variety, bringing finesse and structure. Vinification and ageing that are adapted to suit the weight and structure of the wines result in charm and suppleness and preserve complexity.

The result? A modern classic Bordeaux red with characteristic DBR (Lafite) housestyle.

These principles are used in the creation of Saga Bordeaux White, made from Sauvignon, Sémillon and, in some vintages, Muscadelle. Here, purity of fruit, freshness and elegance constitute the house style year after year.

BORDEAUX REDGrape varieties:

Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc

Length of maturation:in vats during 9 months, 40% in oak


BORDEAUX WHITEGrape varieties :

Sauvignon, Semillon and Muscadelle

Average annual production : 10 000 cases


SAGAPauillac

Pauillac is probably the most highly rated of all the ap-pellations in the Médoc. Facing the Gironde estuary, its 1,200 hectares include no fewer than three First Growths.

Its exceptional topography, centred on a number of gra-velly hilltops, favours natural drainage and enables the vines to establish deep root systems. Pauillac is one of the finest examples in the world of the true meaning of the word terroir.

Saga Pauillac is made mainly from the Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite)’s own vi-neyards. DBR (Lafite)’s technical teams vinify and age these wines which are partly made fromthe young vines of the estate. The structure of the wines is less concentrated than that of the Grands Vins, allowing them to reach maturity more quickly. Nevertheless, the exceptional ter-roir from which they come requires them to be laid down for several months. Saga Pauillac is only marketed once it is ready for drinking.

Grape varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc

Length of maturation: in vats during 3 to 9 months, 40% in oak



SAGAMédoc

Set between the Gironde estuary and the Atlantic Ocean, the Médoc vineyard covers nearly 15 000 hectares. Its unique geographical location is essential and protects it from variations in temperature.

The different types of soils found in the Médoc (Garonne gravel, Pyrenean gravel and outcrops of clay-limestone) are perfectly suited to vine-growing and it is hardly surprising that this peninsula, which lies

on the 45° parallel, is considered to be the origin of many of the finest wines in the world.

Thanks to the diversity of its soils, the Médoc is able to produce a uniquely varied range of wines to suit all occasions. Saga Médoc provides classic Médoc style with accessibility and immediate pleasure. The wine is the result of plot selection, yield control and the use of only perfectly ripe and healthy grapes. The dominant variety of the Médoc, Cabernet Sauvignon, is the predominant grape and traditional barrel ageing is adapted to suit the style of each vintage.


Length of maturation: in vats during 3 to 9 months, 40% in oak



RESERVE SPECIALEBordeaux Red, Bordeaux White

Réserve Spéciale Bordeaux Red and Réserve Spéciale Bordeaux White are produced from selections of batches from the finest Bordeaux soils. They unite the finest successes of the year from all of the Bordeaux vineyards to create one of the finest blends, produced in the tradition of fine Bordeaux wines which are balanced rather than woody. Most of the selected wines come from Entre-Deux-Mers.

BORDEAUX RED

Grape varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot essentially, as well as Cabernet Franc


BORDEAUX WHITE

Grape varieties: Sauvignon, Sémillon and Muscadelle



RESERVE SPECIALEPauillac

The Réserve Pauillac is made essentially from a blend of the various cuves from the Pauillac appellation.

Réserve Pauillac is made by the DBR (Lafite) teams in a spirit of tradition in a style similar to the wines of Châteaux.





RESERVE SPECIALEMédoc

Réserve Médoc benefits from the same quality selection as the Réserve Pauillac. A limited selection from the finest vineyards in the appellation make up the core of Réserve Médoc.

Harmony in blending preserves the flavour of this appellation which remains a great name in the Bordeaux tradition.





Contact :

Alessia Amighetti33, rue de la Baume - 75008 Paris - France

Tél. : +33 (0)1 53 89 78 00 - Fax : +33 (0)1 53 89 78 01E-mail : [email protected]

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