Producer Profile
Chateau Latour
Chateau Latour was classified as a First Growth producer under the 1855 Bordeaux Classification. The estate lies at the very south-eastern tip of Pauillac within the Medoc, only a few hundred metres from the banks of the Gironde estuary. This renowned producer creates three highly regarded red wines; Grand Vin, Les Forts de Latour, and Pauillac.
Vines have existed on this estate as far back as the 14th Century, with Latour’s wines receiving recognition as early as the 16th Century. Truly a historic producer. From 1670 began a lineage of family ownership which was not broken until 1963.
The early 18th Century was the golden age for Bordeaux producers in many ways. As the English aristocracy developed a taste for wine from Bordeaux, trade grew rapidly.
Very quickly, Latour stood out in terms of quality and price. In 1714, a barrel of Latour was worth 4-5 times more than a typically Bordeaux. This ratio continued to rise as Latour became well-established.
Three quarters of the estates shares were sold to The Pearson Group under Lord Cowdry in 1963. This culminated in the modernisation of production; heavily investing in research, expanding vineyards, and replacing old-oak with stainless steel vats.
Then in 1993, Latour retuned to French ownership once again after being purchased for £86 million by Francois Pinault. The next interesting change occurred in 2012 when they made the decision to stop selling the Chateaus wines en primeur.
The estate has 78 hectares of vineyard, 47 of which belongs to L’Enclos. This area is exclusively used for the production of Grand Vin. The composition of grape varieties is 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, and 2% of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Production annually equates to around 18,000 cases.
