Chateau La Tour Blanche

Chateau La Tour Blanche is situated in the heart of The Sauternes Appellation. About 40 km south of Bordeaux, this appellation covers nearly 2100 hectares and encompasses the five villages of Barsac, Bommes, Fargues, Preignac and Sauternes. The merging of The River Garonne and its colder tributary The Ciron creates a microclimate which accounts for the autumnal climate of early morning mists followed by bright sunny days. Consequently, botrytis cinerea itself in ideal conditions to develop on the grape berries causing an evaporation of the berries' water content.

In terms of history, it would seem the estate has its origins since the 1700s. It was named after a certain Jean Saint-Marc du Latourblanche—treasurer general to Louis XIV, no less. The small but elegant two-storey chateau is now towered over by more recent additions, though records are scant concerning the buildings on the estate.

The Revolution soon swept France and by 1845 was in the possession of Frederic Focke, a German gentleman. His experience with the sweet wines of the Rhine proved a boon, and it was he who was almost certainly responsible for the estate’s envious ranking in the 1855 classification of Sauternes and Barsac (just behind the pre-eminent Chateau d’Yquem.) Focke’s death resulted in the estate being sold on to a syndicate of three gentelemen: Merman, Capdeville and Maitre. It wasn’t long before two bought out the third before selling the property onto Daniel “Osiris” Iffla. A former banker, Osiris devoted his later years (and considerable fortunes) to charitable causes: Hospitals and municipal facilities benefited from his philanthropy – he even restored Napoleon’s grand chateau at Malmaison. A forgivably minor consideration among his projects, La Tour Blanche was given to the estate with the stipulation that an agricultural college be established on the site. Building began in 1911 and, to celebrate Osiris’ contributions to the estate and to France as a whole, his name features on the label to this day.

As expected, the subsequent history of La Tour Blanche has had two roles: A wine producing estate and a seat of agricultural learning. These have operated quite independently of one another. Sadly, the quality of wine produced fell into a decline; it was only the arrival of Jean-Pierre Jausserand that reversed the estate’s fortunes. Today the wines commands the status expected of an estate ranked second only to the unassailable d’Yquem.

La Tour Blanche’s vineyard spans 65 hectares situated on a hill, overlooking the ciron. Soils consist of gravel over clay at the upper end of the vineyard, while those closer to the river consist mainly of sand and loess. Whites make up the majority of vines (83% Semillon, 12% Sauvignon Blanc, 5% Muscadelle) but there is a minuscule amount of red vines too. Leaves are stripped to ensure quality, and manual harvesting in a sequence of tries that can take up to 8 weeks is the norm. Fruit selection is rigorous. Grapes are fermented in temperature regulated steel vats and, thanks to recent developments, the whole harvest is then given over to oak. The grand vin, Chateau La Tour de Blanche, takes up around 4000 cases annually. The second wine, Les Charmilles de La Tour Blanche takes up approximately 1250 cases annually. The tiny proportion of red vines goes towards the production of Cru de Cinquet, though this is a curiousity compared to the main focus of sweet wine.