We spent most of the day at the Arcachon Bay (about 90 minutes by bus from Bordeaux City), where we visited an oyster farmer and had lunch at Pinasse Café, Cap Ferret, with a gorgeous view over the bay, the oyster farms and the village of Arcachon and the Dunes de Pilat, the largest in Europe, in the distance.
Following lunch, we drove from Cap Ferret to Margaux, Médoc, where we stayed for the night. Before arriving at the Hotel Relais de Margaux in Margaux, we spent a couple of hours at Château La Tour de Bessan, Appellation Margaux, Cru Bourgois, with Owner/ Winemaker Marie-Laure Lurton.
Relais de Margaux in Margaux is a 4 star resort, spa, and golf hotel in a former late-19thcentury wine château right in the back yard of the famous Château Margaux. There is a very nice restaurant on the premises as well as a wine bar with excellent classified Bordeaux wines at a very decent price point.
At Château La Tour de Bessan, we toured the estate with Marie-Laure Lurton and then sat down with her in the tasting room for a blending excercise. We did not do a regular tasting but were introduced by Marie-Laure to the art of blending.
On the way from Château La Tour de Bessan to Hotel Relais de Margaux we stopped at Château Margaux, which is right next to the hotel.
Château La Tour de Bessan
History
The origin of this property can be found in a 13th century tower situated in Soussans. But today there are simply some ruins left of this old fortified site that was designed to protect the Lord Jehan Colomb when he stayed on his land here. This edifice remained in the Colomb family until 1390 and then several illustrious local families followed suit; the Durforts and Garros families, then the Lords of Mons in 1488.
Their last beneficiary, Thérèse, married the son of the great writer Montesquieu in 1740. The title of Lord of Soussans was kept by their descendants until the French Revolution.
It was in 1972 that Lucien Lurton bought the tower and vineyards from the Clauzel family. As the new owner he pulled out all the stops to rebuild this wine estate, all the while managing his other properties.
In 1992, his daughter, Marie-Laure took over. With a wine making degree in hand and 6 years experience under her wing working on her father’s other domains, she knew all the blocks that made up the domain like the back of her hand.
The first investments she made were in the vineyard: heightening the trellising in order to increase the leaf canopy, replacing, ripping up and planting new vines.
In 1999, Emilie Roullé, an agronomist, became the vineyard manager. Her work showed results quickly: the 2003 vintage earned the Terra Vitis certification. This consolidates the viticultural choices made that respect the environment.
The classification of the 2003 Crus Bourgeois in June finally gave Château La Tour de Bessan the official status of Cru Bourgeois.
The investments also included the cellars: in 1999 we renovated a building dating back to 1934.
It now houses an ergonomic cellar, the barrel maturation cellar and a tasting room. This contemporary building tastefully designed by the architect Vincent Defos du Rau from Toulouse is evidence of the domain’s dynamic spirit and its constant striving for higher quality.
Marie-Laure Lurton also owns Château de Villegeorge in the Haut-Médoc.
Vineyard and Cellar
Spread over three communes in the Margaux appellation (Soussans, Arsac, Cantenac), the blocks that make up the winery are Pyrenean gravel with different levels of clay depending on each zone. The varieties and rootstocks are adapted to each block and soil type. In 2012 the introduction of Petit Verdot provided more diversity in grape varieties.
AOC: Margaux
Total surface of vines: 29,5 ha
Grape varieties: 43% Cabernet-Sauvignon, 55% Merlot, 2% Cabernet-Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot.
Production:
- 60 à 110 000 bottles of first label wine depending on the vintage
- 20 à 40 000 bottles of second label wine (Page de La Tour de Bessan)
Soils: deep quaternary gravel
Average age of vines: 24 years
Average yield: 48 hl/ha
Maturation: French oak barrels for the first label (10 to 14 months depending on the vintages), in tanks for the second label.
Bottled at the Château
Eco friendly vineyard practices: Certified "Terra Vitis" since 2003
Blending Workshop
This is a fun and educational way of learning about the different characteristics of each grape variety and understanding the secrets of blending.
We tasted three different grape varieties (Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon) and talked about their characteristics. Then we tasted a blend of the 3 varieties and had to guess the shares of each individuale grape variety in the blend. Finally, we tasted the 2015 Château La Tour de Bessan, i.e. the blend that made it into the bottle in 2015.
Château Margaux
On the way from Château La Tour de Bessan to Hotel Relais de Margaux we stopped at Château Margaux, which is right next to the hotel. We did not visit Château Margaux on this tour but have done before, the last time on the 2016 tour. See: Tour and Tasting at Château Margaux, Appellation Margaux, 1ière Grand Cru Classé – Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2016, France
Relais de Margaux
Relais de Margaux in Margaux is a 4 star resort, spa, and golf hotel in a former late-19thcentury wine château right in the back yard of the famous Château Margaux. There is a very nice restaurant on the premises as well as a wine bar with excellent classified Bordeaux wines at a very decent price point.
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Total Immersion in Bordeaux: World Class Wines and Exquisite French Gourmet Cuisine - Bordeaux Tour 2018 by ombiasy WineTours, France
Total Immersion in Bordeaux: World Class Wines and Exquisite French Gourmet Cuisine - Bordeaux Tour 2017 by ombiasy WineTours, France
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