Originally called "Château La Tour", Latour Martillac takes its name from the medieval tower overlooking the main courtyard. This tower is all that is left of a 12th century stronghold built by the ancestors of Montesquieu, who once owned the estate. Edouard Kressmann showed a strong interest in Latour Martillac when starting his négociant firm in the late 19th century. However, it was his eldest son who eventually bought the estate in 1929, changing the name to avoid any possible confusion with the château of the same name in Pauillac. Jean Kressmann inherited the property in 1955 and enlarged it to its present size. La Latour Martillac is currently managed by his two sons, Tristan and Loïc.
The hilly terrain features diverse soil types including Pyrenean gravel, clay, and limestone producing approximately two thirds red wine and one third white.
The vines are meticulously tended (Guyot simple or Guyot double pruning, bunch thinning, leaf thinning, etc.). Chemical fertilizers are used sparingly and only when absolutely necessary. Latour Martillac has the unique distinction of retaining a small plot of vines planted in 1884, which are lovingly looked after by the Kressman family.
The grapes at Latour Martillac are carefully hand-picked and placed into small crates to prevent bruising or oxidization. The white wine (60% Sémillon, 30% Sauvignon, and 10% Muscadelle) is fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats and in barrel, without malolactic fermentation, and the lees are stirred during aging.
The red wine is made the traditional way. Fermentation is triggered by both indigenous and cultured yeasts. The wine stays in stainless steel vats for three weeks and then run off into barrels (35% new, 65% previously-used). The aging cellars have a vaporizer to reduce evaporation and the barrels are topped up once a month.
The cellars were completely renovated in 1989 and the Kressman brothers are pursuing the family tradition of quality wines, in large part thanks to low yields.
White Latour Martillac is surprisingly delicate and complex, and also ages well. The medium-bodied red wine displays finesse rather than concentration and extraction.
