Château La Tour Blanche

 Markus Del Monego MW / BWW2024 Finalist, MW (Germany)  tasted  1 wines  from  Château La Tour Blanche . In a tasting of  518 wines 

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Primeurs Vintage 2022 Part 2

7m 3d ago

 Izak Litwar / BWW2024 Finalist, Wine Writer (Denmark)  tasted  1 wines  from  Château La Tour Blanche . In a tasting of  24 wines 

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Bordeaux 2021 / Suduiraut - potent, acacia honey, melon, mango, great complexity, structure and length on the palate, striking acidity, and sweetness make a great pair. Vibrant, refined and sophisticated. Fabulous stuff. 96p.

1y 11d ago

 Markus Del Monego MW / BWW2024 Finalist, MW (Germany)  tasted  1 wines  from  Château La Tour Blanche . In a tasting of  745 wines 

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This years "en primeur" tasting seemed like a journey in time. Bordeaux is back to a more moderate alcohol level and the style is lighter and more elegant. One could say the wines are reminiscent of the 80s, however made with more experience and the modern techniques today. It is not a powerful vintage. The wines are elegant, however the well made ones have an excellent persistence, depth and length. They offer a convincing potential for a long ageing and promote elegance in Bordeaux again. It is a true vintage of terroir although there is a lot of talk about a vintners vintage. However, terroir was the decisive factor in 2021.

Professor Axel Marchal has presented the 10 key points of this vintage on the occasion of the Union des Grands Crus press tasting:

"1. The start of the growing season was marked by severe frost on the 7th and 8th of April.

2. Wet and gloomy weather in May slowed down the vine growth although a providential window of fine weather helped flowering unfold in ideal conditions in early June.

3. Thunderstorms in June slowed down the onset of water stress.

4: Cool, dull weather in July increased the threat of vine diseases.

5. Véraison (colour change) was observed in mid-August, while vine growth had not stopped yet.

6. Thanks to a cool summer, the dry white wines are brilliant, lively and aromatic.

7. The wonderful Indian Summer allowed the red grape varieties to ripen in ideal conditions and preserved aromas.

8. The Merlots are fresh and aromatic while the Cabernets from the finest terroirs are well-structured with good balance.

9. The development of Botrytis cinerea in Sauternes was delayed by the cool summer and eventually triggered by rainfall in mid-September.

10. Despite low yields, the botrytised sweet white wines are of excellent quality."

It will be exciting to see the evolution of this vintage which produced in many cases yields on a very low scale. Arguably it will be a vintage praised for it finesse in the future. A vintage rated on finesse and persistence rather than on sheer power and opulence.

1y 6m ago

 Markus Del Monego MW / BWW2024 Finalist, MW (Germany)  tasted  1 wines  from  Château La Tour Blanche . In a tasting of  650 wines 

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2020 – the paradox vintage 

2020 began with mild temperatures even breaking temperature record highs at the beginning of February. These conditions led to a premature budbreak. Budding developed unevenly, very much depending on the locations although the coo and humid weather in April had not a very significant impact on slowing down the growth of the vines. Finally all the vines came into bloom at the end of May without any significant coulure or millerandage. At the start of June, frequent rain intensified the pressure of mildew. From mid-June, the weather changed. The whole Bordelais saw a period of very dry weather for two months. However, the earlier accumulation of water reserves prevented water stress. Around July 18 a heat wave began to build up but the cool nighty prevented water stress on the wines again. The veraison started at the end of July and went on till the beginning of August. The heatwave in August accentuated water stress, but shorter rainy episodes avoided a complete block. The dry and sunny weather in September encouraged the grapes maturity and harvest started on September 10 with a rather mild weather. Towards the middle of September, rain prevented the fruits from wilting but as its frequency was quite concerning, the haves was pushed forward. "Le diabolique" is the title given to this vintage by Véronique Sanders. It is a very special French word, which is not correctly translated with “diabolic” in English. In France, the expression means to overcome the devil. And the vintners succeeded. 2020 is clearly a vintner’s vintage which asked a permanent reinvention of the wineries, struggling hard with this difficult vintage. However, the vintage surprises with excellent wines, exemplary freshness and elegance and very dense structure. In former times it was said that the vine has to suffer to make exquisite wines, in this vintage the people have suffered to make a great wine. The first part of notes for this tasting with over 800 wines you will find today. More notes will follow over the coming days.

2y 6m ago

 Izak Litwar / BWW2024 Finalist, Wine Writer (Denmark)  tasted  1 wines  from  Château La Tour Blanche . In a tasting of  100 wines 

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I'll repeat myself with the phrase, "Pomerol is one of the strongest districts in 2018"! The truth is that it's s an accurate and valid statement. Despite not tasting Petrus and Lafleur, to name some of the big hitters, I can assure, that there is enough exceptional goof for every taste from Pomerol. As everywhere in Bordeaux, there also are very few wines under the usual standard in Pomerol.

2y 8m ago

 Juha Lihtonen / The Best Scandinavian Sommelier 2003, Pro (Finland)  tasted  1 wines  from  Château La Tour Blanche . In a tasting of  185 wines 

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BWW2021 competition finals were filled with superb lineup of the world's greatest wines and superb finds from various price categories. The finals that were run in various blind tasting sessions, revealed many surprises. Most commonly, the fact that all the wines were so enjoyable already at this young stage, although many of them will deliver so much more after ageing of 10-15 years. Congratulations for all the winners!

2y 10m ago

 Markus Del Monego MW / BWW2024 Finalist, MW (Germany)  tasted  1 wines  from  Château La Tour Blanche . In a tasting of  52 wines 

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The Conseil des Grands Crus Classés en 1855 represents all the Châteaux of the worldwide renowned classification which has been established for the world exhibition in Paris in 1855. It is a great chance to taste most of the wines of this illustrious circle. On May 20, 2020 the samples arrived in my office and were stored under pristine conditions to be savoured the following day. As most of the Châteaux have not been able to show their wines yet, it was a unique opportunity to get a broader picture of the vintage 2019. A few Châteaux have already sent wines before the shutdown so that I even had the option to try them a second time. This might explain some slight adjustments in tasting notes and ratings. The Covid-19 crisis is a nightmare -not only for the Primeurs- but in the same time it offered a perfect chance as well. Usually, the Primeurs would have been presented at the end of March. Now, seven to eight weeks later, the wines had more time to mature and to evolve. The samples performed very well and todays tasting confirmed a lot of quotes from producers in Bordeaux. Bruno-Eugène Borie from Château Ducru-Beaucaillou sees 2019 in a line with the excellent vintages of 2016, 2010, 2009 und 2005. Henri Lurton talks about his best vintage, along with 2016, he has ever vinified at Château Brane-Cantenac. Philippe Dhalluin from Château Mouton-Rothschild asses the vintage as rich and abundant in quality and in quantity as well. After some smaller crops they came back to an average production. Emmanuel Cruse from Château d’Issan sees that 2019 has a lot in common with 2016 yet preserving more freshness. It is a very good vintage but appearing at a very difficult time on the market. At Château Coutet in Barsac, Philippe and Aline Baly were harvesting in three passes with a total of 19 harvesting days. They judge the conditions as rather ideal: “These climatic conditions have generated a harvest whose quality is indisputably present.” The result is a vintage with great qualities. In my opinion 2019 is on a comparable quality level with 2018, however showing even more freshness. Terroir might be more important in this vintage than in 2018 but the best ones show truly great wines.

3y 6m ago

 Christer Byklum/ BWW2024 Finalist, Wine Writer (Norway)  tasted  1 wines  from  Château La Tour Blanche . In a tasting of  33 wines 

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Sauternes had a very long hanging time in 2018 due to the dry and hot autumn which created very little botrytis. The wines ending up rich and refreshing with a sweet purity and fairly nice acidity as most managed their pH levels well, but they lack some of the complexity found in vintages with more prolonged botrytis.

4y 6m ago

 Christer Byklum/ BWW2024 Finalist, Wine Writer (Norway)  tasted  1 wines  from  Château La Tour Blanche . In a tasting of  21 wines 

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2015 Bouchard Montrachet / Pale lemon yellow. Apples, minerals, fruity. Minerals, vanilla, spices, detailed, transparent yet fuller nose. Fresh acidity, fresh, fruity, detailed, playful, rounded, fresh apples, spices, layered, stunning length, superb balance. 98p

6y 3m ago

 Izak Litwar / BWW2024 Finalist, Wine Writer (Denmark)  tasted  1 wines  from  Château La Tour Blanche . In a tasting of  161 wines 

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Bordeaux 2016 vintage!

6y 7m ago

 Achim Becker / Wineterminator.com, Wine Writer (Germany)  tasted  1 wines  from  Château La Tour Blanche . In a tasting of  23 wines 

“Magnum tasting with wines like Latour and Haut-Brion 1929, Margaux 1918 and 1953, Martha's Vineyard 1974, Sassicaia 1985 etc.”

7y 2m ago