Chateau Latour-Martillac 1988

Château Latour-Martillac is a wine estate in the Pessac-Léognan appellation in the north of Bordeaux's Graves wine region, just south of Bordeaux city and on the so-called Left-Bank of the Garonne River. The estate makes Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant red blends as well as a dry white wine led by Sémillon.

Latour-Martillac was named a classed growth in the 1953 Classification of Graves and is one of the few producers to hold the classification for both its red and white wines.

The property has been under vine since at least the 19th Century when it was a part of the larger Château La Brède. The modern estate name comes from the tower that remains of a 12th Century fortified castle whose stones were used to build the château in the late 1700s.

Latour-Martillac was managed by Edouard Kressmann and the Kressmann négociant business beginning in the 1870s. His son Alfred went on to buy the estate in 1930 and it has remained in the Kressmann family since.

The family has also owned Château Langlet in Cabanac-et-Villagrains, also in the Graves region, since 1999.

Château Latour-Martillac has 55 hectares (136 acres) under vine, three quarters of which are planted to red grapes. Cabernet Sauvignon makes up roughly 55 percent of the vines with some Merlot and a small amount of Petit Verdot.

Sauvignon Blanc takes up the majority of the remaining vineyard (60 percent) with the remaining planted to Sémillon.

The vineyards are divided into two sections. A slightly elevated hill on the property with gravel soils from ancient movements of the Garonne is given to Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot.

Closer to the modern river banks is a still-gravelly plot with a high concentration of clay in the subsoil that is planted to Merlot and the white varieties. There is also a tiny 0.65 hectare (1.6 acre) parcel named Grattecap that dates back to 1884 and is mostly planted with Sémillon. It is entirely hand-harvested and ploughed by horse.

In the winery, reds are barrel-aged between 16 to 18 months in 40 percent new barrels whilst the white spend 15 months in 25 percent in new oak

Latour-Martillac began producing a second wine in 1986 called Lagrave-Martillac. Production totals approximately 186,000 bottles each vintage. - Information from Wine Searcher