Since the 19th century, members of the Rothschild family have owned a winery in France named Château Lafite. Lafite comes from the Gascon term "la hite" meaning "small hill." Lafite began to earn its reputation as a great winemaking estate in the 17th Century and between 1732-1733, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Robert Walpole, purchased a barrel of Lafite every three months. A 1787 Chateau Lafite bottle once thought to be owned by Thomas Jefferson was sold at an auction for $156,000, a record price for a bottle of wine.

The vineyard is one of the largest in the Médoc, covering 112 hectares and is well-drained and well-exposed. Vines are not used in the Grand Vin (Château Lafite Rothschild) if they are less than 10 years old. The average age of the vines used in the Grand Vin is close to 45 years. The soil is made up of fine deep gravel and mixed with aeolian sand on a subsoil of tertiary limestone. Around 35,000 cases of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Peit Verdot are produced annually.