Chateau Latour a Pomerol

There is some similarity of Chateau Latour a Pomerol with Petrus, namely both have been under the ownership of Madame Loubat for many years, and now under JP Moueix. The vineyards are scattered throughout the appellation.

The history can be traced to the Chambaud family, vignerons in Pomerol during the 19^th century, who owned many of the vineyards which later became Latour a Pomerol. When the sole heiress of the Chambaud estate married Louis Garitey in 1875, the estate stayed in the ownership of the couple.

Upon Garitey’s death in 1914, it was divided between the three daughters, one being Madame Loubat. Madame Loubat later acquired other properties, including Haut-Canton-Guillot next to Trotanoy, and Clos des Grandes-Vignes next to the church in the village.

These two properties plus the inherited ones formed the majority of the Latour a Pomerol today. The estate remained in the hands of Loubat until her death in 1961, inherited by her niece Lily Lacoste, along with Petrus, thus benefiting from the business relationship between the Loubat-Lacoste and Moueix families.

The Moueix family has been responsible for tending the vines, making and marketing the wines in the following year, but still under Lacoste’s ownership. In 2002, Lily donated the entire property to the charitable Fondation de Foyers de Charite de Chateauneuf de Galaure.

The total vineyards cover 8 hectares, mostly on sandy clay and gravel soil, with sand particularly dominant in the vineyards on the west of the appellation. The vines average 35 years of age, with 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. The fruit is harvested by hand, and fermented in temperature controlled concrete vats.

After malolactic fermentation it goes into barrique of which 50% are new, for 18 months, before bottling with filtration. Total output is about 3000 cases, all of which is the grand vin, without any second wine.

I have recently tasted the 2006 vintage and below is my tasting note:

Appearance

Bright and clear, it has medium intensity ruby color, with garnet rims and legs.

Nose

Clean, with medium intensity aromas showing black fruit of black cherries, plum and blackberry, oak notes of cedar, animal notes of meaty and leather, sweet spice of cloves. The wine is youthful.

Palate

Dry with medium (+) acidity, medium tannin still a bit grippy in texture, the wine has medium alcohol, with medium (+) body and medium intensity flavors of black fruit such as plum and black cherry, oak notes of cedar, sweet spice of nutmeg, herbal notes of black tea. The wine has a medium finish.

Conclusion

Good quality Pomerol with a youthful nose showing reasonable concentration and complexity, the wine has a good structure, with sufficient acidity to balance the fruit and tannin. The palate is with similarly flavors, with also reasonable intensity and complexity, plus a reasonable length on the finish. It is ready to drink now though can benefit from further ageing of another 3-5 years.