Château Latour is a

French wine French wine is produced all throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world, along with Italian, Spanish, and Amer ...

estate, rated as a

First Growth First Growth (french: Premier Cru) status is a classification of wines primarily from the Bordeaux region of France. The best of the best wines were assigned the highest rank of Premier Cru; only five wines, Château Lafite Rothschild, Châtea ...

under the 1855 Bordeaux Classification, owned by Groupe Artemis. Latour lies at the very southeastern tip of the commune of

Pauillac Pauillac (; oc, Paulhac) is a municipality in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. The city is mid-way between Bordeaux and the Pointe de Grave, along the Gironde, the largest estuary in western Europe. Popul ...

in the

Médoc The Médoc (; oc, label= Gascon, Medòc ) is a region of France, well known as a wine growing region, located in the ''département'' of Gironde, on the left bank of the Gironde estuary, north of Bordeaux. Its name comes from ''(Pagus) Medull ...

region to the north-west of

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

, at its border with Saint-Julien, and only a few hundred metres from the banks of the

Gironde Gironde ( US usually, , ; oc, Gironda, ) is the largest department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,62 ...

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

. The estate produces three red wines in all. In addition to its ''Grand vin'' ( LWIN 1012316), Latour has also produced the

second wine Second wine or second label ( French: ''Second vin'') is a term commonly associated with Bordeaux wine to refer to a second label wine made from '' cuvee'' not selected for use in the ''Grand vin'' or first label. In some cases a third wine or e ...

Les Forts de Latour ( LWIN 1010309) since 1966, and a third wine, simply named Pauillac ( LWIN 1013821), has been released every year since 1989. An '' impériale'' (six-litre bottle) of 1961 Château Latour sold for £135,000 in 2011.

History

The site has been occupied since at least 1331 when Tor à Saint-Lambert was built by Gaucelme de Castillon, and the estate dating to at least 1378. A

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

fort was built 300 metres from the

to guard against attack during the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French Crown, ...

. The tower, the name mutating with time to La Tour en Saint-Mambert and Saint-Maubert, gave its name to the estate around the fortress and was in English hands until the

Battle of Castillon The Battle of Castillon between the forces of England and France took place on 17 July 1453 in Gascony near the town of Castillon-sur-Dordogne (later Castillon-la-Bataille). Historians regard this decisive French victory as marking the end o ...

in 1453, and its complete destruction by the forces of the King of France. The original tower no longer exists, but in the 1620s a circular tower (La Tour de Saint-Lambert) was built on the estate named after Simon Ledwidge and though it is actually designed as a

pigeon Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

roost, it remains a strong symbol of the vineyard. Though two centuries apart, this building is said to have been constructed using the original edifice. Vines have existed on the site since the 14th century, and Latour's wine received some early recognition, discussed as early as in the 16th century in ''Essays'' by Montaigne. Near the end of the 16th century, the estate's several

smallholding A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology ...

s had been accumulated by the de Mullet family into one property. From 1670 began a lineage of connected family ownership not broken until 1963, when the estate was acquired by the de Chavannes family, and passed by marriage to the de Clauzel family in 1677. When Alexandre de Ségur married Marie-Thérèse de Clauzel, Latour became a part of his vast property, to which he also added

Château Lafite A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...

in 1716, just prior to his death. In 1718 his son Nicolas-Alexandre de Ségur added Château Mouton and

Château Calon-Ségur Château Calon-Ségur is a winery in the Saint-Estèphe appellation of the Bordeaux wine region of France. The wine produced here was classified as one of fourteen ''Troisièmes Crus Classés'' (Third Growths) in the historic Bordeaux Wine Offi ...

to his holdings and began producing wines of great quality. The widespread reputation of Latour emerged at the beginning of the 18th century when its status was established on export markets such as England, alongside chateaux Lafite,

Margaux Margaux (; oc-gsc, Margaus) is a former commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune Margaux-Cantenac.Pontac. With the death of Nicolas-Alexandre Ségur in 1755 the estate was divided among four daughters, three of whom inherited Latour in 1760, and with absent landlords, Latour was managed by a ''regisseur'' charged with efficient administration and thorough correspondence with the owners. Receiving more care than under the late owner whose favourite had been Lafite, Latour improved in the later half of the century, and later became a favourite of

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

, then minister to France, when he categorised La Tour de Ségur as a vineyard of first quality in 1787. With the onset of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, the property became divided. The Comte de Ségur-Cabanac fled France and his portion was auctioned off by the state in 1794, passing through several owners. The estate was not reunited until 1841, when the family succeeded in a plot to put the estate up for sale, and eventually emerged after an auction having regained the 20% shares owned by ''

négociant A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturist Viticulture (from the Latin word for '' vine'') or winegrowing (wi ...

s'' Barton, Guestier and Johnston. The ''Société Civile de Château Latour'' was formed in 1842, exclusive to the family, who then had become shareholders. Ahead of the International Exhibition in Paris, the selection of Latour as one of the four First Growths in the Classification of 1855 consolidated its reputation, and ensured its high prices. The present château was completed in 1864.

Modern history

In 1963 the estate finally left the Ségur family, then named de Beaumont, when the heirs sold three-quarters of the Château Latour shares to the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

interests of the Pearson Group under control of Lord Cowdray, with shares owned by Harvey's of Bristol. Henri Martin and Jean-Paul Gardère were appointed as managers which brought about substantial innovations. Investments were made in research, vineyards were expanded by acquisition and replanting, the '' chai'' was extended and Latour became the first of the first growths to modernise their whole production, replacing the old

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

fermenting vats with

stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...

temperature-controlled vats. The second wine with fruit from younger vines was initiated, and fruit for the ''grand vin'' was decided to come exclusively from the vineyards shown on the plan of the domain from 1759. Martin and Gardère formally resigned from the Conseil d'Administration in 1987, ending a 24-year era. In 1989 Latour was purchased by

Allied Lyons Allied Domecq PLC was an international company, headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom, that operated spirits, wine, and quick service restaurant businesses. It was once a FTSE 100 Index constituent but has been acquired by Pernod Ricard. The ...

for around £110 million, but in 1993 returned to French ownership when bought by businessman

François Pinault François Pinault (born 21 August 1936) is a French billionaire businessman, founder of the luxury group Kering and the investment holding company Artémis. Pinault started his business in the timber industry in the early 1960s. Taken public in ...

for £86 million when it became part of his holding company Groupe Artemis. In December 2008 it was reported that the investment bank

Lazard Lazard Ltd (formerly known as Lazard Frères & Co.) is a financial advisory and asset management firm that engages in investment banking, asset management and other financial services, primarily with institutional clients. It is the world's la ...

was offering the estate for sale. ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' speculated that among the interested parties were wine mogul Bernard Magrez, with actors Gérard Depardieu and Carole Bouquet, in a transaction which would bring one of the five first growths under the control of a resident Bordelais for the first time in several decades.

Production

The estate has of

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards ...

, of which a portion near the château is named l'Enclos, where fruit exclusive to the ''grand vin'' is grown. The composition of

grape varieties This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, currant, sultana). For a complete list of all grape species including those unimportant to agriculture, see Viti ...

is 80%

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebanon' ...

, 18% Merlot, and 2% of Cabernet Franc and

Petit Verdot Petit Verdot is a variety of red wine grape, principally used in classic Bordeaux blends. It ripens much later than the other varieties in Bordeaux, often too late, so it fell out of favour in its home region. When it does ripen it adds tannin, ...

. The ''grand vin'' Chateau Latour, typically a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, with the remainder Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, normally has an annual production of 18,000 cases. The second wine Les Forts de Latour, typically 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot, has an average annual production of 11,000 cases. Beginning in 1989, the estate began producing a third wine, Pauillac de Latour.

Price

The estate's ''grand vin'' is one of the most expensive Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot wines made in the Médoc region and retails at an average price of $793 for a 750 ml bottle.

References

External links

Château Latour official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Latour, Chateau Bordeaux wine producers