Château Latour-Martillac 2023

This vintage gives pride of place to Cabernet-Sauvignon with 66% of the blend, complemented by Merlot (20%) and 14% Petit Verdot - a record! This blend comes through on tasting, with aromas of black fruits, classic of Cabernet-Sauvignon, and notes of violets, characteristic of Petit Verdot. The wine is beautifully fruity, with fine, elegant tannins and a subtle touch of bitterness on the finish.

After 2021 and 2022, the 2023 vintage once again presented us with new challenges, especially for our teams in the vineyard. The year was marked by a very unstable weather context at the start of the season, characterized by a hot, humid spring, which meant a constant battle against mildew. Fortunately, the Sec second half of the season was much calmer, enabling both white and red grapes to reach perfect ripeness.

In detail, winter was mild overall, with the exception of a cool February. The vines budded at the beginning of April, much as in recent years. Spring was marked by two nights of frost - from April 03 to 05 - with no damage to the vines thanks to our protective equipment.

Flowering took place between late May and early June, during a dry, warm period. High temperatures from May 15 onwards, combined with heavy rainfall in June (89 mm), led to extremely rapid vine growth. All the green harvesting had to be carried out in just two months instead of the usual three. Despite our best efforts, the Merlot suffered particularly from mildew attacks. Cabernet-Sauvignon and Petit Verdot were spared. The period from the end of July to the beginning of August was rather cool for the season, allowing the vines to slow down and the grapes to change color and ripen slowly.

The red harvest began on September 8, a fairly classic date in recent years. The final highlight of the vintage was our new optical sorting machine, which enabled us to sort the grapes with the utmost precision, thus ensuring optimal harvest quality.

The white harvest began on August 28 with the first parcels of Sauvignon Blanc. Fact Rare this year, due to the heat at the end of August and beginning of September, we had to pick a few plots of Merlot before the end of the white harvest.

Vine cycle :

Budburst: March 25
Flowering: May 20 to June 01 (full flowering on May 25)
Beginning of veraison: July 15