Château La Tour Blanche 2003
Château La Tour Blanche 2003 is a sweet white wine from Sauternes, Bordeaux, produced by Château La Tour Blanche and classified as a Premier Cru Classé of Sauternes. It brings together 78% Sémillon, 20% Sauvignon Blanc, and 2% Muscadelle. The Wine Advocate awards it 92/100 and Jancis Robinson 18/20. Critics describe a broad, unctuous, and structured wine with notes of honey, yellow flowers, and lemon, alongside a touch of toast. Drinking windows cited: 2007–2017 by Jancis Robinson and 2013–2020 by The Wine Advocate.
Identité du vin
Cépage et assemblage
- Grape Variety
- 78% Sémillon, 20% Sauvignon Blanc, 2% Muscadelle
Château La Tour Blanche
Château La Tour Blanche is an estate in Bommes, within the Sauternes appellation, classified as a Premier Grand Cru in 1855. Its 46-hectare vineyard, certified as organic, occupies a gravelly hilltop on a clay-limestone subsoil overlooking the River Ciron. The estate is owned by the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Regional Council and is linked to a school of viticulture and oenology based on the site.
- Owner
- Conseil régional de Nouvelle-Aquitaine
- Maître de chais
- Philippe Pélicano
- Surface (ha)
- 46.00 ha
- Production (average bottles per vintage)
- 30 000 bouteilles/an
Histoire du domaine
The estate’s origins date back to the mid-17th century, when it was established by Monsieur de Saint-Marc, Lord of La Tour Blanche and clerk at the Court of Parliament in Bordeaux. He gave his name to the property and transformed both the vineyard and the residence into a château. Frédérick Focke acquired the estate in 1815 and developed the practice of late harvesting and successive sorting, which are crucial to the production of Sauternes sweet wines. In 1855, Château La Tour Blanche was ranked at the top of the Sauternes Premiers Crus, immediately after Château d’Yquem, the sole Premier Cru Supérieur. Following Focke’s death that same year, his widow Delphine managed the estate until it was sold in 1862 to a group comprising, amongst others, Georges Mermann, Albert Capdeville, Paul Maître and Hugues Godefroy. Daniel Iffla, known as Osiris, became the owner in 1876. On his death in 1907, he bequeathed the château to the French State on the condition that a school of viticulture and winemaking be established there. The Ministry of Agriculture accepted the bequest in 1909 and the school opened in 1911. Since 2010, the estate has belonged to the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region and falls under the remit of the EPLEFPA Bordeaux-Gironde, whilst its wine-growing operations are managed by a professional team.
