Chateau LaTour-Martillac Blanc 2019
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Jeb
Dunnuck -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling -
Wine
Spectator
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
This wine has a pale yellow color with golden reflections. Its nose is very expressive, with notes of citrus fruits, white flowers and fresh fruits. The lemony freshness of the attack gives way to an ample, complex and aromatic mouth, very tasty. It is a refined wine with a delicate texture, in complete harmony.
Blend: 58% Sauvignon Blanc, 42% Sémillon
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2019 Château Latour-Martillac Blanc is terrific, offering a rich, concentrated, yet bright and racy style that's going to age beautifully. Ripe lemon, honeyed grapefruit, chalky mineral, and some floral notes all define the nose, and it's medium to full-bodied, has terrific overall balance, and a great finish. It's one classy Bordeaux Blanc that will have 15+ years of longevity. Best After 2022.
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Wine Enthusiast
This warm, ripe wine shows touches of yellow fruits as well as a cut of attractive citrus. At this stage, the wood aging shows in spice and toastiness, but these will go as the wine fully integrates. Best After 2024. Cellar Selection
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of 42% Semillon and 58% Sauvignon Blanc, harvested between the 3rd and 17th of September, the 2019 Blanc came in at 50 hectoliters per hectare and 13.8% alcohol. Aromas of fresh lemons, yellow apples and white peaches gently waft from the glass with emerging nuances of baking bread, almonds and spice cake. The medium-bodied palate has electric intensity with the tightly wound citrus layers well-supported by racy acidity, finishing savory.
Range: 91-93 -
James Suckling
A medium- to full-bodied white with aromas of dried grapefruit, lemon curd, fennel, gooseberries and cloves. Rich, compact and spicy with a pithy edge. Drink or hold
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Wine Spectator
Tarragon and chive notes lead the way in this white, followed by flavors of lemon peel, white asparagus, chalk and white peach, showing tangy drive on the finish. Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon. Drink now.
Other Vintages
2016-
Wine
Enthusiast -
James
Suckling -
Jeb
Dunnuck - Decanter
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Robert
Parker
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Enthusiast -
Jeb
Dunnuck -
James
Suckling -
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Spectator -
Robert
Parker
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Enthusiast -
Wilfred
Wong -
James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker -
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Spectator
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James
Suckling -
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Enthusiast -
Wilfred
Wong -
Robert
Parker -
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Spectator
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James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker -
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Enthusiast -
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Spectator
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Wine
Enthusiast -
James
Suckling
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Robert
Parker -
Wine
Enthusiast
Alfred Kressmann, eldest son of Edouard, acquired the property in 1930. He changed the name to avoid confusion with its illustrious namesake in the Medoc and therefore Chateau Latour became Chateau LaTour-Martillac. There then followed a long period of reconstruction. The vineyard consists of a dozen hectares of which the majority was planted in white wine. Without touching the oldest plots, Alfred Kressmann added Cabernet Sauvignon to the merlot already in place. Interrupted by the war, the reconstruction was continued after by Jean Kressmann, who succeeded his father in 1954. Jean finally achieved the family dream to acquire the gravel slope, which separates the property from the village. Thus the vineyard was gradually extended to nearly 30 hectares.
Today, the 6 children of Jean Kressmann own the domain and continue on the family tradition. Tristan and Loïc, the two younger sons, manage the estate with the assistance of the best wine consultants in Bordeaux. With each following vintage they produce the best from this authentic Graves soil. Since the 1980’s, they have increased the area planted in Sauvignon Blanc to compliment perfectly with the Semillon, the historical grape variety of the property. For the red varieties, the tradition of blending Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot is now topped up with the excellent Petit Verdot variety, which is planted in one of the best gravel plots of the plateau of Martillac.
Sometimes light and crisp, other times rich and creamy, Bordeaux White Blends typically consist of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. Often, a small amount of Muscadelle or Sauvignon Gris is included for added intrigue. Popularized in Bordeaux, the blend is often mimicked throughout the New World. Somm Secret—Sauternes and Barsac are usually reserved for dessert, but they can be served before, during or after a meal. Try these sweet wines as an aperitif with jamón ibérico, oysters with a spicy mignonette or during dinner alongside hearty Alsatian sausage.
Recognized for its superior reds as well as whites, Pessac-Léognan on the Left Bank claims classified growths for both—making it quite unique in comparison to its neighboring Médoc properties.
Pessac’s Chateau Haut-Brion, the only first growth located outside of the Médoc, is said to have been the first to conceptualize fine red wine in Bordeaux back in the late 1600s. The estate, along with its high-esteemed neighbors, La Mission Haut-Brion, Les Carmes Haut-Brion, Pique-Caillou and Chateau Pape-Clément are today all but enveloped by the city of Bordeaux. The rest of the vineyards of Pessac-Léognan are in clearings of heavily forested area or abutting dense suburbs.
Arid sand and gravel on top of clay and limestone make the area unique and conducive to growing Sémillon and Sauvignon blanc as well as the grapes in the usual Left Bank red recipe: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and miniscule percentages of Petit Verdot and Malbec.
The best reds will show great force and finesse with inky blue and black fruit, mushroom, forest, tobacco, iodine and a smooth and intriguing texture.
Its best whites show complexity, longevity and no lack of exotic twists on citrus, tropical and stone fruit with pronounced floral and spice characteristics.