Chateau Latour Martillac Rouge 2020 (37.5cl) | Ewineasia.com

The estate takes its name from the tower which stands in the main courtyard of the château; it is the remnant of a fort built in the 12th century by the ancestors of Montesquieu. The structure occupied a strategic position and controlled the route between Bordeaux and Toulouse. The stones of the fort were used to build the existing château at the end of the 18th century. 

In 1871, the estate attracted the attention of Edouard Kressmann who had just founded his wine merchant business in Bordeaux. He was seduced by the quality of the white wines grown on a remarkable gravelly hilltop with marked relief and outstanding exposure. To this day one can still find in the plot grafted in 1884, the entire collection of Edouard Kressmann’s selection of grape varieties for his « Grave Monopole Dry », as baptised by the Diva, Adelina Patti. Enhanced by their great age these vine stocks embody the breed, verve and essence which still characterises this wine. 

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: Château Latour became Château 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 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.