Beautiful medium filtered scarlet. The nose is quite closed, but there are elegant notes of pepper and fresh black cherry and a little blueberry. Dusty. In the mouth strong acids and young tannins, initially sour but after a day it mellowed out nicely. Flavours of dark cherry but aromatically a little simplistic. Long finish. This is a good wine, but it needs a few years. Decant.
The La Tour de Bessan exhibits a dark ruby, opaque core with a nose of framboise and a palate of black fruit flavors. It reveals medium high acidity, a slight tartness and rather coarse gripping tannins on the finish. A wine from Vignoble Marie-Laure Lurton.
Still a very young wine, it maintains a firm, tight structure. This is a rich perfectly balanced vintage that requires patience; wait until 2010 before drinking and it will keep until 2018. Food and wine match: grilled or barbecued meat, or with a good goats’ milk cheese, or mature brie.
Alcohol: 14%
Welcome to our website - Vignobles Marie-Laure Lurton
Our Vignobles, or wineries, are composed of three different châteaux, all in the Médoc: the Château La Tour de Bessan in the Margaux Appellation, the Château de Villegeorge in the Haut-Médoc Appellation, The Château Duplessis in the Moulis en Médoc Appellation. Marie-Laure Lurton inherited these domains from her father when he divided his numerous châteaux among his children in 1992.
A qualified oenologist trained in Bordeaux, Marie-Laure is very attached to the quality of “what’s in the bottle”. All her investments, whether in staff or in production equipment, are aimed at improving both the vineyards and wines.
In 1999, in order to step up the pace (this active woman hates wasting time) she increased her team. Emilie Roullé took over as technical and vineyard director, helped by Thierry Reyne as vineyard manager. The investments, efforts and technical choices made, paid off as all three domains were awarded the Terra Vitis status (recognition for environmentally friendly vineyard practice). This status is awarded by an independent inspectorate that checks the very exacting standards set on an annual basis. These efforts, both human and financial, are part and parcel of Marie-Laure’s ethos. Her commitment is unambiguous: to produce healthy ripe grapes while protecting the environment. It is a long term strategy, based on the efforts of a competent team that puts the decisions of the direction firmly into place.
In June 2003 the wines of the three châteaux were classified as Crus Bourgeois in the new classification system. La Tour de Bessan which was not part of the list in 1932 has hence joined the very exclusive club of 247 wines. But alas, this exclusive new classification was not approved by certain winemakers who went to court to appeal against the decision, and in February 2007 obtained the cancellation of this brand new classification. The Crus Bourgeois classified in 2003 can now only use this hierarchy on their labels until the 2006 vintage. Thereafter, the Cru Bourgeois classification will have to be awarded each and every year!
These obstacles, however, will never stop us from producing excellent quality wines, nor from marketing them.
