How to distinguish real and fake Lafite wine?
1. Check the foil capsule
The foil capsule of Lafite is easily recognizable. Its design features the winery's château at the top, with "Lafite Rothschild" written in the middle. The foil capsules from the 1980s to 2002 all share a similar design. The only difference is a slight variation in the color of the foil, exhibiting different shades of red. The foil capsule in the bottom right corner of the image belongs to Carruades de Lafite, a brand of Lafite, and is inscribed with "Domains Barons de Rothschild" and the five Rothschild arrows in the center. If you look closely, you'll notice that these five arrows are slightly different from those of Mouton. The two characters for Lafite are printed above the central "R," representing the Lafite Rothschild family.
2. Check the bottle
Before 1996, Lafite wine bottles were like ordinary Bordeaux wine bottles, with no patterns below the neck. However, in 1996, to prevent counterfeiting, the winery adopted a special bottle design.
As early as 1985, Lafite bottles were engraved with a special pattern to commemorate the return of Halley's Comet, an astronomical phenomenon that occurs only once every 76 years. Thus, the year 1985 and the pattern of Halley's Comet were engraved on the bottle. Apart from this special edition, Lafite had always used ordinary Bordeaux wine bottles. It wasn't until 1996 that the Rothschild family crest, the five-arrow design, and the word "Lafite" were engraved on the bottle. In 1999, the bottle design saw another innovation.
3. Check the cork
The image displays Lafite corks from different vintages, from left to right: 1983, 1985, 1986, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2002. The vintage is printed on the side of the cork, but no pattern or vintage is printed on the top of the cork. On the other side of the cork, the words "Grand Vin de Chateau Lafite Rothschild" are printed on the Lafite pattern. In fact, the designs of Lafite corks from different vintages are largely similar.
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(Image and text source from the internet)
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