Château Latour-Martillac is one of Bordeaux' great growth estates that owes its success to caring family management going back many years.

The chateau's reputation was long due to its top-flight white wine.

However, the vineyards at Château Latour-Martillac have been replanted with greater emphasis on red wine varieties, and the estate is now just as famous for producing one of the finest red wines in the Pessac-Léognan appellation .

In 1858, Edouard Kressmann left his native Germany for Bordeaux, and established his own wine company there in 1871. He was quite taken with the quality of great white Graves in general, and that of Château Latour, in Martillac, in particular. He became good friends with the owner at the time.

This was the beginning of the family's love story with the estate which crystalised with its purchase in 1929 by Alfred Kressmann, Edouard's son. He immediately renamed the chateau "Latour-Martillac" to avoid any confusion with the prestigious Médoc chateau of the same name.

Jean Kessmann took over man- aging the chateau in 1940, and inherited it in 1955. It is thanks to him that the vineyard was gradually increased to its present size, by the intelligent purchase of neighbouring plots.
Today, there are 38 hectares of vines, including 10 planted with white wine varieties. The estate has sandy-gravel soil on the middle part of a very gentle slope. The upper part consists of the gravelly Martillac plateau, where the soil is warm and well-drained. Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot grapes thrive there. At the foot of the slope, the vine roots sink deeply into clay-limestone soil, and are practically immune to drought. The wine wine grapes are grown in this part of the vineyard, which is also where the oldest vines are located. Some of these were planted in 1928 and... 1884.

Tristan et Loïc, the sons of Jean Kressmann, are now in charge of the chateau, and are eminently qualified to realise Latour-Martillac's full potential.

The extended surface area, providing greater opportunity for marrying grape varieties with specific soil types, has finally made it possible for the wine to express its full character.

According to Tristan and Loïc, this new situation calls for even more care and attention in the vineyards in order to grow perfectly ripe grapes.

Such grapes provide the winemaker with the ideal raw material for both red and white wines, and this has clearly shown through in the wines' quality in recent years.

Vineyard management is based on the soil type of each individual plot of land. This philosophy follows through into the cellar, where the wine from each plot is fermented and aged separately until the final blending.

This has given Latour-Martillac's white wine an even greater aromatic range. As for the red wine, special efforts are taken so that its natural elegance does not lack corresponding power.
Grapes from each plot are picked at optimum ripeness, and fermented separately. The red wine is more powerful than in the past, and has received widespread praise.