Château Latour: Vineyards
Château Latour and its principal vineyards are located at the southernmost point of the Pauillac appellation, on the right of the D2 as you drive north. One moment you are in St Julien, the vineyards of Château Léoville-Las-Cases by your side, the next moment as the road dips down and climbs again, you are in Pauillac. Glance to the right and you will be looking out onto the heart of the Latour vineyard, the 47 hectares that surround the château and which are known as L’Enclos, with the Gironde beyond.
In Bordeaux, while the 20th century was an era of expansion and volume, the 21st century seems to be one of focus and quality. Many estates are increasingly homing in on their ‘original’ vineyards, those that are directly associated with the château, or were the original vineyards in the estate’s possession when it was included in the 1855 classification. Volumes are thus reduced, authenticity and perhaps even quality ameliorated. In the context of Château Latour, the vineyard we turn to is L’Enclos, the great block of vines which sit directly around the château and cellars, a gravel-pebble’s throw from the waters of the Gironde.
The L’Enclos of Latour
L’Enclos is the 47-hectare spiritual and historical heart of the domaine, and it is from these vines that the grand vin is sourced. L’Enclos is divided from the vineyards of Léoville-Las-Cases by a surprisingly wide band of uncultivated land (a handy site for a car park, as noted on the first page of this profile), through which the Ruisseau de Juillac is channelled as it heads down to the Gironde. To the north it is separated from the vineyards of Haut-Bages-Libéral by another stream-cum-drainage channel, as well as the Route de la Rivière, the road which leads down to the palus and then turns north towards Pauillac. To the east is the palus, the uncultivated waterside land which is pasture and not much good for anything else, while to the west the boundary is formed by the D2 as it heads north, on the other side of that lie the vines of Château Pichon Baron. Within these four boundaries is a great gravel mound which has an altitude of 16 metres above sea level at its highest point.
