Château Latour Martillac 2016 - Grand Cru Classé de Graves

Bettane & Desseauve

About the wine:

Very colorful, intense, and well-balanced—certainly excellent value for money for lovers of wines with great aging potential and classic styles.

About the estate:

This classified growth is a model of a family-owned estate, with all the Kressmann children displaying an almost filial attachment to their heritage and the estate being managed very soundly. The red wine has gained significantly in tannin finesse and textural elegance. The wines are classic, with an emphasis on fruit, quality tannins, and freshness. Under the guidance of the highly talented and meticulous Valérie Vialard, the white wines are impeccable, precise, aromatic, and perfectly lively.

Decanter

Guide Hachette des vins

About the wine:

With hues ranging from garnet to purple, this wine truly lives up to its promise. While the bouquet has not yet fully opened up, it already hints at its future finesse with lovely notes of red fruit. Round and supple on the palate at first, the wine develops with strength, revealing a solid tannic structure. A well-defined Pessac, built to last.

About the estate:

While many of the big names in the Bordeaux wine trade have chosen to establish themselves in the Médoc, the Kressmanns opted for the Graves and this estate, acquired in 1930, which owes its name to a tower adorning its courtyard—a remnant of a château built in the 12th century by ancestors of Montesquieu. A beautiful 50-hectare estate renowned as much for its whites as for its reds.

Robert Parker - Wine Advocate

About the wine:

The 2016 Latour Martillac, with its deep garnet-purple color, offers on the nose notes of ripe plums, kirsch jelly, and red currants, with hints of bay leaves, iron ore, and black earth. Medium-bodied, with a well-supported attack on the palate featuring robust fruit, it has a firm structure with fine-grained tannins and superb freshness, culminating in a long finish.

RVF - La Revue du Vin de France / Guide des Meilleurs Vins de France

About the wine:

The 8% Petit Verdot in the blend adds color to this full-bodied, well-rounded wine, which features magnificent, creamy, and structuring tannins. The finish is mineral. A great success for this cru, which is in top form.

About the estate:

Here is a fine example of a family-owned estate, still in the hands of the Kressmanns, a historic family of Bordeaux wine merchants. Tristan and Loïc Kressmann are now at the helm of this cru classé, which enjoys a superb location on the Martillac plateau. Successive generations have honored the legacy passed down to them, while making steady progress in vineyard management and winemaking under the guidance of their head winemaker, Valérie Vialard. The château inaugurated a new winemaking facility for red wines with the 2019 vintage. Without succumbing to the allure of passing trends, the wines have retained their elegant and precise style; however, they are gaining in depth. This highly compelling balance between tradition and modernity, along with the particularly distinguished character of the most recent vintages, leads us to award Latour-Martillac a second star.

Wine Spectator

Wine Enthusiast

About the wine:

This full-bodied wine, with abundant blackcurrant notes, is initially austere. Its richness needs time to develop and become the classically structured wine that this estate does so well. Best enjoyed starting in 2025.

Jancis Robinson

Vinous

James Suckling

About the wine:

It is very aromatic, with notes of blackberry and blueberry, but has a base of warm stone and white almond. It is medium-bodied to full-bodied with tight, silky tannins that are extremely polished and magnificent. I love the length and balance of this wine. Best enjoyed after 2022.