Château Latour-Martillac 2018 The Wine Gate Shop
Château Latour-Martillac 2018 The Wine Gate Shop
France

Bordeaux – Pessac-Léognan

Château Latour-Martillac 2018

Shipped in original wooden case

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Full description

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Ratings

93 100

JAMES SUCKLING

93 100

WINE SPECTATOR

92 100

WA - ROBERT PARKER

91 100

DECANTER

The Estate

Owned by the Kressmann family since 1930 and Cru Classé of Graves in red and white since 1953, Château Latour-Martillac owes its name to the tower in the courtyard, the vestige of a fortress built in the 12th century by the ancestors of the famous winegrower and philosopher, Montesquieu.

Located on an outstanding Pyrenean gravel rise, this estate caught the eye of Edouard Kressmann, a Bordeaux wine merchant since 1871. He was particularly impressed with the quality of the white wines. His older brother, Alfred, finally bought the estate in 1930. He expanded the red wine vineyard and, in 1934, designed the bottle label with his son, Jean, featuring "gold and sand-coloured diagonal stripes", clearly inspired by the art-deco movement and still in use today.

Today, Tristan, Loïc and Edouard Kressmann perpetuate the family tradition of selecting high-quality vines in the outstanding Graves terroir.

Thanks to their elegant structure and balance, Latour-Martillac red and white wines are widely recognised as among the most dependable in Pessac-Léognan.

"In a bottle of wine, there is more history than geography." Jean Kressmann

The vineyard

The vineyard is divided into two uniform subsectors.

On the Martillac plateau, the hill dominates the property and is made up of a patchwork of gravel. These poor soils and drainage constitute an ideal terrain for the vine and in particular for the red grape varieties of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot.

Moving closer to the Garonne, the soils take on a different profile of clay and limestone, still with a gravel surface. It is here that the Merlot variety grows best and also our white grape varieties of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon.

The vineyard covers a total area of 54 hectares, 45 hectares for the red varieties and 9 hectares for the whites. Regarding the reds, the vineyard is made up of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 5% of Petit Verdot. As for the whites, it is divided into 60% Sauvignon Blanc and 40% Semillon.

The Vintage

2018 was a year marked by a spell of frost in April and followed in quick succession by an episode of hail on the 26th of May. The year was also marked by heavy downpours in Spring before to get better conditions from the flowering.

Despite the attack of mildew at the beginning of the summer in certain parcels of red vines, the sunny period from July through to the beginning of October trully saved the vintage and guaranteed a good ripening of the grapes. The harvest began on the 28th of August with the whites - with healthy and ripe grapes - and finished on the 13th of September.

Information

  • Domain Château Latour-Martillac
  • Vineyard Graves
  • Color
    Blanc
  • Vintage 2018
  • Classification Grand Cru Classé
  • Variety 54% Sauvignon Blanc
    46% Sémillon
  • Culture sustainable agriculture
  • Alcohol degrees13.5°
Download the datasheet

Tasting Notes

Eye, bouquet, palate

Pale yellow, with green highlights. The nose is elegant with notes of citrus fruits (lemon), summer fruits (peach) and fresh hazelnut. This wine offers a remarkable sensation on the palate. With its round, smooth aromas of ripe fruit. An intensely fresh and lively finish.

Temperature

12°

Drinking window

2021-2027

Wine and food pairing

Fish (turbot, sea bass, scallops), crustaceans (shrimps, lobsters, lobster), cheeses (goat cheese, sheep cheese, comté), aperitif...