18/05/2026
Great Bordeaux masterclass from 67 Pall Mall feat. Pessac-Léognan’s Château Latour-Martillac.
Vigneron Edouard Kressmann is on his first Australian Tour and gave us a tutored tasting. He talked about his negotiant great-grandfather acquiring the property 150 years ago. After working in Argentina and China, Edouard took over winemaking from his father in in 2019.
Edouard’s since modernised the winery with smaller, double-layer insulated stainless-steel tanks to complement traditional barrel aging. And undertaken clonal analysis and replanting of the Semillon vineyards planted in 1884, narrowing down from 32 to 3 of the best performing clones.
Latour-Martillac is one of only 6 classified for both Blanc and Rouge. It has 50 hectares under vine, 40 red and 10 white, on the slopes of the Gironde River on clay and limestone. Interestingly, the sites with more limestone ripen earlier, as the stone retains heat to keep the vines active overnight.
We compared two whites, very different in character but only 2% variation in the blend. Edouard calls the Sauvignon the bones and the Semillon the flesh:
2024 Lagrave-Martillac Blanc – 50:50 Semillon and Sauvignon from a classical, cool vintage; a fresh, aperitif style, lemon peel, fresh asparagus, hedgerows. Barrel ferment, 6 months aging. 12.5% Alc./Vol. ($68 RRP)
2022 Château Latour-Martillac Blanc, Grand Cru Classé – 52:48 Semillon and Sauvignon, from a warm, climate change vintage; complex for food matching, rounder, pink grapefruit, almond kernel. Barrel ferment, 18 months ageing. 13.5% Alc./Vol. ($132 RRP).
Then we had a comparison of entry and flagship reds, both Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant (60%), with Merlot (30%) and Petit Verdot.
2020 Lagrave-Martillac Rouge – smallest harvest on record from a good vintage; lively plum, redcurrant, to***co leaf. Fermented and raised in stainless steel and barrel. ($68 RRP)
2022 Château Latour-Martillac, Grand Cru Classé – warm vintage; softer, blood plum, blackcurrant, ripe tannins. Fermented and raised in 20% stainless steel and 80% barrel. ($126 RRP)
Château LATOUR-MARTILLAC, Grand Cru Classé de Graves 67 Pall Mall Melbourne
