Château Latour

Château Latour is one of the most famous wineries of Bordeaux. 

Château Latour -  a tower and the wine

Located on the eastern side of the Médoc in the commune of Pauillac, the estate has been shaping the history of the area since the 14th century. Originally, it was a single tower built as a defensive structure during the 100-year war. The tower exists only as a replica, but a picture of the original still adorns the label of the main wine. The surrounding land was soon cultivated by the local farmers, and wine was also grown. The upswing towards a quality winery occurred with Alexandre de Ségur at the end of the 17th century, who owned Latour and additionally acquired Château Lafite. His son, the "wine prince" Nicolas-Alexandre, expanded the estate to include Château Mouton and Château Calon and began producing high-quality wine.

The breakthrough of Château Latour

A wave of appreciation of French wines that broke out in England brought Bordeaux valuable clientele and success. Thus, the estate continued to grow and specialized completely in viticulture. in 1855, the estate was classified as Premier Cru in the Bordeaux wine classification system, alongside names such as Lafite-Rothschild, Margaux and Haut-Brion.

When the French Revolution broke out, Château Latour was kept together and in the family with much difficulty. The subsequent history is one of splits, but until 1962, Château Latour was still in the hands of descendants of the Ségur family. However, after the fragmentation became too great, many heirs sold their shares. After the shares were bought and sold again by several groups of companies, François Pinault has owned the largest share since 1993.

Leap into the modern age - or not?

As is so typical of this period, marked by awakening in many French wineries, changes were also made at Château Latour. renovations were made from 1999 to 2003, and the entire production buildings were overhauled. in 2012, a new cellar was built for aging.

Terroir and cellar of Château Latour

With its location on the Gironde River, Château Latour can benefit from the balancing character of the maritime climate. Cold waves are intercepted by the water mass, spring rains are abundant, while summers are dry during grape ripening.

• Cabernet Sauvignon
• Merlot
• Cabernet Franc and
• Petit Verdot

thrive in the vineyards. The estate has been certified for organic farming since 2015, for example, in the years before it switched back completely to manual labor. The earth here is even plowed by horseback. In the cellar there are 80 steel tanks for fermentation, and aging takes place in barriques. The blending for the individual wines of the château takes place only at the end during bottling.