Chateau Lafite Rothschild 1982

Seven centuries in Pauillac

Chateau Lafite Rothschild sits at the northern end of Pauillac, in the Medoc northwest of Bordeaux, on deep gravel over well-drained, gently rolling slopes. Its neighbors are Mouton Rothschild and Cos d'Estournel, both known for robust, flamboyant wines, which makes Lafite's reputation for an ethereal lightness all the more striking.

The estate was the property of Gombaud de Lafite in 1234. In the 17th century the Segur family bought it, including a 16th-century manor house that still stands, and around 1680 Jacques de Segur planted most of the vineyard. In the early 18th century the Marquis Nicolas-Alexandre de Segur, known as the 'Wine Prince,' introduced the wine to European high society, and it came to be called 'the King's Wine.'

The French Revolution ended the Segur era: Nicolas Pierre de Pichard was executed on June 30, 1794, and the estate became public property, then was sold to Dutch merchants in 1797. In the 1855 Classification, Lafite was one of four chateaux named First Growths. In 1868 Baron James Mayer de Rothschild bought it for 4.4 million francs; he died three months later, and the estate passed to his three sons. It has been in the family ever since. During the Second World War the chateau was occupied by the German army and its cellars were heavily plundered.

The baron, the director and the critic

Baron Eric de Rothschild took over the management of Lafite from his uncle Elie in 1974 and ran it until 2018, when his daughter Saskia succeeded him. A year after taking charge he hired the influential enologist Emile Peynaud as consultant; one account says 1982 was Peynaud's last vintage in that role. Lafite has no 'winemaker' as such. In 1982 the technical director was Jean Crete, formerly of Leoville-Las-Cases, and the cellar master was Robert Revelle, who had succeeded his father Georges. Charles Chevallier, who later ran the technical side of Lafite and its sister estates, arrived in 1983.

The other figure in this wine's story never worked at Lafite. Robert Parker, a Baltimore lawyer who had started a newsletter in 1978 that became The Wine Advocate, called the 1982 Bordeaux vintage superb at a time when other critics, including the San Francisco critic Robert Finigan, thought it too low in acidity and too ripe to age. Parker was proved right, and the call brought him worldwide attention. He left his law job in March 1984 to write about wine full time.

Parker's own scores for this wine moved with it. One account says he first rated it 95 to 96 points in 1983, raised it to 98 in the mid-1990s and gave it a perfect 100 in a retrospective in 2000, calling it 'an amazing achievement!' He compared it to Lafite's 'immortal 1959' and predicted 30 to 70 more years of life.

A vintage almost too good to trust

1982 was an unusually warm growing season in Bordeaux. One account describes a mild winter, a rainy spring, a warm summer and a dry, sunny autumn. Cabernet Sauvignon, which often struggles to ripen fully in Bordeaux, reached ripeness levels not seen for many years. At Lafite, picking began early, on September 16, and yields were generous at 40 hectoliters per hectare.

Some less well-equipped estates struggled to control fermentation in the heat, but that was not an issue at Lafite, and although some estates overcropped, dilution was rare. The grapes were picked by hand, fermented in large wooden vats (stainless steel tanks arrived only in 1988), and aged for almost two years in new barrels from Lafite's own cooperage. Selection for the grand vin was less strict than it would become from 1985. The finished blend was 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc, more Merlot than the 5% to 20% that the grand vin is generally described as containing.

Barrel samples tasted almost Port-like in richness. Critics of the time called the vintage atypically opulent, almost Napa-like, and predicted short lives for the wines. Instead the top 1982s are still going strong, and the vintage became the most celebrated of the last half-century. At release Lafite was seen by many merchants as quieter than flashier neighbors such as Mouton and Latour, a wine for purists.

From 170 francs to Hong Kong

The 1982 Lafite was released at 170 francs a bottle, rising to 225 francs on the export market. One merchant's page gives a release price of $350 a case.

Its price was transformed by China. China's love affair with Lafite and with the 1982 vintage made this wine among the most sought-after, if not the most sought-after, in the country. In October 2011 a case of the 1982 sold at auction in Hong Kong for HK$1.03 million, about $132,770, a record at the time, and another case sold in the same city the following month for HK$720,000. That June, a case had sold at auction in Beverly Hills for $50,788.

The peak did not last. Prices for some Lafite vintages fell sharply after 2011. In March 2013, at a sale in Beverly Hills simulcast to Hong Kong, a case of the 1982 with bottles still in their original tissue sold for $41,175, a six-bottle lot for $34,160, three magnums for $26,840 and a single imperial-size bottle for $24,400. As of October 2026, one US merchant listed a single bottle at $9,900.

More in China than was ever made

High prices brought counterfeits. Wine dealers in China have said there is more '1982 Lafite' for sale in the country than the chateau ever produced. Analysts quoted in news reports suspected that 50 to 70 percent of the Lafite sold in China was fake, and counterfeiters were reported to buy empty genuine bottles from scavengers for refilling. In November 2012 police in Wenzhou seized nearly 10,000 bottles of suspected fake Lafite.

Christophe Salin, then president of the company that owns Lafite, said in 2013 that he had 'never seen a bottle of fake '82 Lafite' and that the bigger problem was look-alike brands. He said the estate had protected its top bottles since 1996 with identification techniques he would not reveal, and it added tamper-proof tags beginning with the 2009 vintage. For a 1982, provenance and a professional inspection matter more than anything on the label.

None of that has dimmed the wine itself. In 2022 the critic William Kelley found it at the peak of its powers, and in 2024 Neal Martin wrote that it still needed more time.

The numbers

Vineyard

About 90 ha in 1982; about 107 ha today, one of the largest in the Medoc

Estate production today

Around 35,000 cases a year, of which 15,000 to 25,000 are the grand vin

1982 yield

40 hl/ha, about 10% above average

1982 blend

65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc

Robert Parker

100 (Wine Advocate, 2000)

Timeline

1. 1234

   The estate is the property of Gombaud de Lafite.

2. 1680

   Around this year Jacques de Segur plants most of the vineyard.

3. Jun 30, 1794

   Nicolas Pierre de Pichard is executed, ending the Segur family's ownership.

4. 1855

   Lafite is named one of four First Growths in the Bordeaux Classification.

5. 1868

   Baron James Mayer de Rothschild buys the estate for 4.4 million francs.

6. 1974

   Baron Eric de Rothschild takes over management from his uncle Elie.

7. 1975

   Emile Peynaud is hired as consultant.

8. Sep 16, 1982

   The 1982 harvest begins at Lafite.

9. 1983

   Robert Parker's early review of the 1982 Lafite appears; Charles Chevallier joins the estate.

10. Dec 5, 1985

    A 1787 Lafite said to have belonged to Thomas Jefferson sells for about $156,000, a record; its authenticity is later challenged.

11. 2000

    Parker gives the 1982 Lafite 100 points.

12. 2001

    Michael Broadbent writes of the wine: 'So much on show, so much left to show.'

13. Oct 29, 2010

    Bottles of 1869 Lafite sell in Hong Kong for about $232,692 each, a world auction record.

14. Jun 16, 2011

    A case of the 1982 sells for $50,788 at auction in Beverly Hills.

15. Oct 2011

    A case of the 1982 sells in Hong Kong for HK$1.03 million, about $132,770.

16. Nov 2012

    Police in Wenzhou, China, seize nearly 10,000 bottles of suspected fake Lafite.

17. Mar 29, 2013

    A case of the 1982 sells for $41,175 at auction in Beverly Hills, simulcast to Hong Kong.

18. 2018

    Saskia de Rothschild succeeds her father, Eric, at Lafite.

19. Oct 2026

    A US merchant lists a single bottle of the 1982 at $9,900.

The world in 1982

• Apr 2, 1982

  Argentine forces occupy the Falkland Islands; Britain retakes them by June 14.

• Jun 11, 1982

  E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial opens in the United States.

• Jul 11, 1982

  Italy beats West Germany 3-1 to win the World Cup in Spain.

• Aug 17, 1982

  The first compact discs are produced in Germany.

• Sep 29, 1982

  The Chicago Tylenol murders begin, killing seven people.

• Nov 12, 1982

  Yuri Andropov succeeds Leonid Brezhnev as Soviet leader.

• Nov 29, 1982

  Michael Jackson releases Thriller in the United States.

• Dec 26, 1982

  Time magazine names the computer its 'Man of the Year.'

Daily price data

FLOAT reprices this wine every day from completed sales. Last updated November 12, 2026.

Every grade and recorded sale for this wine

Price record

This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.

By reference price, Chateau Lafite Rothschild 1982 is number 7 of 100 in the wine entries of the FLOAT 100. 12 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (16 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Stainless steel tanks did not arrive at Lafite until 1988; the 1982 was fermented in large wooden vats.
• Lafite makes its own barrels at its own cooperage.
• Baron James de Rothschild died just three months after buying Lafite in 1868.
• Some critics of 1982 Bordeaux predicted the wines would not last because they were too ripe and too low in acid.
• A 1787 Lafite said to have belonged to Thomas Jefferson set a record in 1985, but its authenticity has been challenged.
• The 1982 harvest at Lafite began on the same date as in 1976: September 16.
• Lafite opened a winery in Shandong, China, and released its first vintage from it in 2019.