Château La Tour Carnet Red 2021

Grand Cru Classé in 1855, Haut-Médoc

Features

Location: Saint-Laurent Médoc
2021 blend: 54% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Sauvignon
Age of vines: 26 years
Planting density: 8,000 to 10,000 vines/ha

Tasting

"Opaque ruby core, violet highlights, subtle lightening on the rim. Generous nose of candied blackberries, candied orange, some fine spices and nougat. Medium body, dark berries, subtle tannins, good freshness, an everyday wine, drink now".

Peter Moser

Food & wine pairing

Beef
Bordeaux-style lamprey
Black forest
Hare à la royale
Truffle Risotto

Conservation

2025-2040

Product from a High Environmental Value farm

Ratings & Awards

95/100
Bernard Burtschy
93/100
Vertdevin Magazine
92/100
James Suckling

95/100

Bernard Burtschy

"Black in color. Lovely blackberry nose with a dense wine with substance and chewiness, woodiness too, lovely finish on a beautiful ripe merlot. A great success."

93/100

Vertdevin Magazine

"The nose is fruity, with a little concentration and a fine, tight grain. There are notes of fleshy/pulpy blackberry, violet and, more lightly, fresh violet plum, combined with small touches of fairly ripe red berries, as well as hints of licorice stick, violet and a discreet touch of camphor and vanilla. Fruity on the palate, with juiciness, smoothness, good definition, freshness and precision. On the palate, this wine expresses notes of pulpy/juicy blackberry, violet and, more lightly, juicy/pulpy blue plum, combined with touches of bright red berries, blueberry and licorice, as well as fine hints of bourbon vanilla and a discreet touch of toastiness. Good length. Sapidity on the finish/persistence "

92/100

James Suckling

"A linear, typical Médoc here with blackcurrant and spearmint notes on the nose and palate. Firm, polished and slightly velvety tannins".

Winegrowing singularities

Wine Singularities

Climate

Age of vines: 26 years
Soil type: Highly calcareous clay bedrock covered by a thick layer of Gunzian gravel.
Vineyard driving mode:
- Precision viticulture
- 1st leaf-thinning: mid-July on the east side
- 2nd leaf-thinning: mid-August, sunset side
- Hand-picked in crates

Pôle d'étude d'adaptation des cépages au réchauffement climatique.
Vinification :
- First sorting in the vineyard
- Manual sorting on vibrating tables, followed by destemming with a Pellenc WINERY.
- Optical sorting
- Harvest cooling using a cryogenic tunnel (liquid nitrogen spraying)
- Filling by gravity using a cuvon.
- Vinification in wooden vats and small-capacity cement vats.
- Cold pre-fermentation maceration (8°C).
- Entirely manual punching down.
- Alcoholic fermentation at low temperature (28°C).
- Maceration time 25 to 32 days.
- Aged in barrels for 16 months, including 30% new barrels.

Consultant winemakers: Michel Rolland

A contrasted Autumn / Winter
Autumn was mild and wet, with temperatures 1.5° above average, and December was the wettest month in twenty years. Although January saw a slight cold snap, winter was warm and wet. Between October and March, the rainfall surplus was +49%, and it rained almost every day until mid-February. The combined effect of this humidity and rising temperatures led to an early budburst at the end of March.

A cool Spring/Summer
Spring was much cooler than seasonal norms, particularly in April with a severe frost spell at the beginning of the month. These weather conditions enabled us to start the vintage with relatively low sanitary pressure. May was also a cold month (-1.8°C compared with seasonal norms) and particularly rainy, with almost daily precipitation. These conditions increased sanitary pressure, which was further exacerbated by heavy rainfall in June, which was the heaviest in twenty years.

The summer was cool and wet, with the exception of August, with temperatures an average of one degree below seasonal normals. Long wetting periods and low temperatures prevented any reduction in sanitary pressure, but we did achieve good technological and phenological ripeness.