Wine Advisor
La Tour Carnet 2007
Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted blind at the 2007 Bordeaux horizontal in Southwold. This has a soft, fleshy rather oaky bouquet but with good definition, sweet red fruit laced with apricot. The palate has a sweet entry with a tang of cracked black pepper on the entry. The depth of fruit neatly covers the highly extracted tannins and there is a slightly abrasive charcoal finish. But overall, this is a fine La Tour Carnet. Tasted January 2011.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at the UGC in London. Given how poorly this showed out of barrel, this is a pleasant surprise. A tight but quite intense blackberry and raspberry bouquet, as if it were squeezed through a funnel! It will open up in time. The palate has thick chewy tannins, good weight with toasty blackberry and briary fruit. Tannic, perhaps brutish, but compared to its initial showing it has certainly coalesced over the last few months. I must stand corrected. Drink 2012-2018. Tasted July 2009.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Some earthy black fruits on the nose but there is certainly some greenness here. The palate is dry on the entry, the finish tannic and lacking flesh. Very austere on the finish. This is a disappointing showing. Tasted April 2008.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
A sleeper of the vintage, Bernard Magrez’s outpost in the southern Medoc has produced a blend of 50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Earthy, tarry, truffle-like notes intermixed with black currant and spice box aromas jump from the glass of this medium-bodied, seriously endowed 2007. It possesses silky tannins as well as admirable purity and depth. Drink it over the next 10-12 years.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Rated - No tasting note given.
About the Producer
The history of Château La Tour Carnet dates back to the 12th century. Indeed, this vast vineyard of 132 hectares is undoubtedly one of the oldest domains of the Medoc. Its architecture is purely medieval as evidenced by the tower, surrounded by moats, which was built in 1120. The domain takes its name from the valiant squire Carnet having fought alongside the lord Jean de Fait: his self-denial and his bravery were such that he received the property in inheritance. Subsequently, the estate belonged to illustrious owners, including the Montaigne family. Since the 2000s, Château La Tour Carnet has been taken over by Bernard Magrez, who has started a restoration and renovation program. Located in the heart of the Medoc, the property has a unique and exceptional terroir, called the “Butte de la Tour Carnet”. It is a visual curiosity but also geological since it is the only clay-limestone mound of the Medoc. The White of La Tour Carnet is one of the rare white wine produced in the Médoc. The estate also produces a white wine. Located in the heart of the Médoc, the property has a unique and exceptional terroir, called the “Butte de la Tour Carnet”. It is a visual curiosity but also geological since it is the only clay-limestone mound of the Medoc. The quality of Château La Tour Carnet’s wines is link to the quality of its terroir of Garonne and Pyrenean gravel. On this type of soil the Merlots flourish particularly well, which explains why half of the Château La Tour Carnet grape varieties are in Merlot. The dominant of this grape gives the wines of the property, a beautiful fruit, flexibility and allows to address them in their youth. During the vinification, the Château team seeks harmony between Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in order to have gourmet wines. Thus, the entire harvest is harvested by hand and then vinified in concrete vats for Merlot and in wooden vats for Cabernet Sauvignon. Aging is done in barrels, 50% new, for 18 months to coat and enhance the fruit. Château La Tour Carnet is a wine of great elegance, it is a great Médoc.