Chateau Latour-Martillac Vineyard(Bordeaux, France)

Let me preface this entry with my husband and I are by no means wine experts. we both greatly appreciate well made wine, but price and prestige are not a factor with our “likes”.

The terroir at this vineyard is situated on a bed of limestone pebbles. A hold over from a time when this land was under the ocean. This tough ground condition provides the struggle needed for the vines to thrive!

Tidbits about wine i learned today (yes, i am still learning even basic info!) Tannins are provided by the seeds, skins, and stems. The longer they sit with the wine, the more tannins! Tannins are essentially the “pucker power”/ “punch you in the face” behind the flavor and are stronger with younger wines.

At this vineyard, they do not use any machines to harvest. Everything is done by hand, to include tending the grapes during growing. We visited in late September of 2021 and the work crews had just started picking the grapes on the day we arrived (they had a late start this year)!

Processing the grapes uses only a few machines. Mainly to move the grapes.

After the grapes are sorted and crushed, they are moved to the big tanks for fermentation.

In France, everything is done a lot slower. They prefer to do tastings at the end of the tours, whereas in US, we taste up front and then tour and talk. I prefer to taste up front, for obvious reasons! 🙄 Fermentation is completed in the steel vats and aging completed in French oak barrels, of course!

In the cellar, the temperature for barrel aging feels to be about 50 degrees. This ensures fermentation does not continue. The aromatics from the aged French oak barrels is incredible. They are 225 years old! $600 eu a piece for the barrels! This vineyard has about 75% new barrels. They do not want the woody flavors. Preference is for the fruity flavors. After learning about barrels we moved on to the tasting. Finally the fore play has ended and we get to savor the flavor!

Apparently barrel making is an industry of its own!!

Literally my taste buds are watering with anticipation. Maybe there is something to the French delay of gratification🤷‍♀️

Starting with the white, the glasses where slowly passed around.

Sauvignon Blanc.

Very fruity, fresh and citrusy. Very long finish. Strong Minerality. Rounded in the mouth. Pairs well with white cheese and fish/shrimp with butter sauces. This wine achieves the heavy citrus flavors because of the Sauvignon grapes.

Jake’s notes on the white, “would go well on a hot day due to the fresh mineralogy. Loves the citrusy flavors. Very nice to switch it up a bit from the heavy reds in the vacation.

Moving on to the Red tasting…

60% cab, merlot, and 7% petit Verdot.

She Said: Very peppery flavor. Notes of leather, vanilla. Lots of tannin mouth feel.

He Said: Jake’s notes regarding the red, very enjoyable. Very peppery with an outstanding bouquet. Mellow taste. Excellent tannins. We snagged a bottle to enjoy back on the ship 🤫

A couple of side notes, the field workers all look very Gypsy-ish. In the US, you would see primarily Mexican migrant workers. The workers out here have shanty towns established just in the peripheral of the vineyard estate for the workers. Well, i think the workers set them up themselves during the working season? I found this very interesting because my mother’s father’s family came from Mexico to the US as migrant workers in the 1800’s. But that’s a story for another day…

To sum it up, this was a very nice tour. We were able to drive thru old town Bordeaux first and then visit the winery. I would definitely recommend this excursion to others!

Oh! And we got this cute little keepsake that i used for my mask! It is the estate symbol.

For more information click the link below:

Wines