La Tour Carnet can trace its history back to the 12th century, and it was long called Château de Saint Laurent. The current owner, Bernard Magrez, undertook an in-depth renovation of the château, which has a superb tower and is surrounded by a moat.
The terroir consists of sand and gravel soil in the extreme western part of the estate and siliceous, gravel, clay, and clay-limestone soil in the western and central parts. The "Butte de la Tour Carnet" is very unusual geologically in that it is on an asteriated limestone rise covered by a layer of clay.
As at the other Bernard Magrez estates, quality is an ongoing concern in both the vineyard and the cellar. The grapes are entirely hand picked into small crates. They are initially sorted in the vineyard and the bunches are manually destemmed. The grapes are sorted a second time on a special vibrating table. All matter other than grapes is eliminated by an air jet.
The vat room was designed to ferment small volumes of wine from different plots separately. The grapes are cold macerated for ten days prior to alcoholic fermentation, with pigeage (punching down the cap) up to three times a day. Malolactic fermentation takes place in barrel and the wine is aged on the lees.
La Tour Carnet's first wine has powerful red fruit and cinnamon aromas. Thanks to a majority of Merlot, recent vintages are quite pleasant to drink young, while maintaining great aging potential.
0.85 hectares of white wine grapes (Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Sauvignon Gris) were planted en 2000. This white wine is mainly served at receptions at the château.
