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 style.

About the estate:

This classified growth is a model of a family-run estate, with all the Kressmann children showing an almost filial devotion to their heritage and a very sound management style. The red 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 whites are impeccable, precise, aromatic, and perfectly lively.

Decanter

Guide Hachette des vins

About the wine:

With its garnet-to-purple hue, this wine truly lives up to its promise. While the bouquet hasn’t fully opened up yet, it already hints at its future finesse with lovely notes of red fruit. Round and supple on the palate at first, the wine builds in intensity, revealing a solid tannic structure. A well-defined Pessac, built to last.

About the estate:

While many of Bordeaux’s leading wine merchants have chosen to establish themselves in the Médoc, the Kressmanns opted for the Graves region and this estate, acquired in 1930, which takes its name from a tower that stands in its courtyard—a remnant of a château built in the 12th century by ancestors of Montesquieu. A beautiful 50-hectare estate renowned for both its white and red wines.

Robert Parker - Wine Advocate

About the wine:

The 2016 Latour Martillac, with its deep garnet-purple color, offers aromas of ripe plums, kirsch jelly, and redcurrants, with hints of bay leaves, iron ore, and black earth. Medium-bodied, with a well-supported attack of robust fruit, it has a firm structure with fine-grained tannins and superb freshness, and finishes with a long aftertaste.

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 boasts magnificent creamy, structuring tannins. The finish is mineral. A great success for this wine, 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 prime location on the Martillac plateau. Generation after generation has preserved the legacy passed down to them, while making steady progress in vineyard management and winemaking under the guidance of their cellar master, Valérie Vialard. The château inaugurated a new winemaking cellar 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 density. This highly convincing balance between tradition and modernity, as well as the particularly distinguished character of the latest vintages, leads us to award Latour-Martillac a second star.

Wine Spectator

Wine Enthusiast

About the wine:

This full-bodied wine, with its rich blackcurrant notes, is initially austere. Its depth 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 highly aromatic, with notes of blackberry and blueberry, but features undertones of warm stone and white almond. It is medium-bodied to full-bodied, with tight, silky tannins that are exceptionally polished and beautiful. I love this wine’s length and balance. Best enjoyed after 2022.