Château Latour-Martillac
Although there are plenty of vineyards surrounding the little town of Martillac, very roughly south-east of Léognan, it is not blessed with a huge number of classed growth properties. There are certainly some notable names, including Château Haut Nouchet just to the south, and Domaine de la Solitude just a little way to the west, nevertheless as far as the Graves classification goes, Château Latour-Martillac is the town’s only contender. Perhaps that is why, despite the swathes of vineyards that run both to the north and the south of the town, interdigitating with the suburbs, this estate feels somehow isolated here, alone and lost.
Perhaps the other reason is the estate’s seemingly secluded location; although only a hundred-or-so metres from the rather imposing 11th-century church at the centre of Martillac, which incidentally is dedicated to the virgin Visigoth Sainte Quitterie, the estate is hidden away up a narrow lane, flanked by hedges and trees. It is only at the end, as the road opens out, that the vineyard and solitary tower – the tour of Latour-Martillac – are revealed.
History
The estate seems to be ancient, as although the majority of the buildings here are modern there is one, the aforementioned tower, which is clearly very old. It is said to be the remains of a small fortress, long since demolished, which was built during the 12th century. Other parts of the fortress have vanished for ever, and writing in Grands Vins (University of California Press, 1995) Clive Coates asserted that the stone was re-used in order to build the existing modern-day Latour-Martillac château, although having visited the domaine I struggled find a building worthy of the name.
