Château Lafitte

The château

Raymond Lafitte, a wine merchant, bought the property in 1763 and gave it his name. It was already on the market when Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, listed the Cru Lafitte among the côtes of Camblanes from 1868, under Boffinton, at 45 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels) of red. Breton held it in 1886 and Lucien Alezais in 1898, when it made 50 tonneaux and stood first in the list, in a commune whose red côtes wines, colored, full of sap and full-bodied, the guide counted among the most esteemed of the right bank of the Garonne. Mme Lanoire had it in 1922.

The Mengin family came with Juliette Mengin, who bought it. Her son Max Mengin took over the management in 1991, and her grandson Philippe Mengin, who studied enology, spent years on the road building its markets abroad; today 95% of the 200,000 bottles made each year are exported. The vineyard, about 30 hectares in one block above the Garonne valley, lies on stony gravel (40%), clay and limestone (30%) and fine siliceous gravel (30%). The red is 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, fermented in stainless steel, macerated 4 to 5 weeks and aged 12 to 24 months before bottling at the château. Michel Rolland, who died in March 2026, worked with the estate and wrote the notes on its vintages. Château Lafitte Le Blanc, from 2023, is its first white.

At a glance

Appellation

Côtes de Bordeaux

Commune

Camblanes-et-Meynac

Classification

No classification

Owners

The Mengin family; Philippe Mengin, 3rd generation

Consultant

Michel Rolland, who died in 2026

Vineyard

About 30 hectares in one block

Soil

Stony gravel 40%, clay and limestone 30%, fine siliceous gravel 30% Terroir of Côtes de Bordeaux →

Grapes

Merlot 80%, Cabernet Sauvignon 20%

Cellar

Stainless steel; 4 to 5 weeks of maceration; 12 to 24 months of aging; bottled at the château

Production

200,000 bottles, 95% exported

Wines

Château Lafitte; Château Lafitte Le Blanc, from 2023

Not to be confused with

Château Lafite Rothschild, Pauillac

In history

Among the côtes of Camblanes from 1868, 45 tonneaux; first in the list, 50 tonneaux, in 1898