Winemaker Notes
The color is very pale, the wine fruity with aromas of white nectarine, lemon and passion fruit. The palate is concentrated, round, juicy with a touch of pear and almond. The finish is fresh, mineral, tasty and tense.
Blend: 68% Sauvignon Blanc, 32% Sémillon
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This Graves classed growth offers richness and great aging potential. Its acidity from the dominant Sauvignon Blanc is balanced by the creamed-apple flavors of Sémillon. Together they give the wine density, richness and a fine future. Drink from 2025.
Cellar Selection -
Vinous
The 2020 Latour-Martillac Blanc has shut down since tasting from barrel, yet it opens with yellow plum, jasmine and light frangipane scents. I admire the precision here. The palate is well balanced with a fine bead of acidity, quite taut and well defined. Real precision on the finish that drags you back for one more sip. This is a classy dry white Bordeaux that will give immense pleasure over a number of years. - Neal Martin
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James Suckling
This has aromas of grapefruit, cardamom, juniper, apricots, lemon curd and lemongrass. Zesty and spicy with excellent weight and ripeness too. Medium to full body. Lengthy and concentrated.
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Wine Spectator
Glistens with wet pebble, verbena, tarragon and lemon peel notes, along with gooseberry, grapefruit and white peach flavors. There's a lot to like in this wine. Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Unwinding in the glass with aromas of pastry cream, grapefruit, beeswax and macadamia nut, the 2020 Latour Martillac Blanc is medium to full-bodied, satiny and concentrated, with ripe acids, chalky extract and a saline finish.
Sometimes light and crisp, other times rich and creamy, Bordeaux White Blends typically consist of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. Often, a small amount of Muscadelle or Sauvignon Gris is included for added intrigue. Popularized in Bordeaux, the blend is often mimicked throughout the New World. Somm Secret—Sauternes and Barsac are usually reserved for dessert, but they can be served before, during or after a meal. Try these sweet wines as an aperitif with jamón ibérico, oysters with a spicy mignonette or during dinner alongside hearty Alsatian sausage.
Recognized for its superior reds as well as whites, Pessac-Léognan on the Left Bank claims classified growths for both—making it quite unique in comparison to its neighboring Médoc properties.
Pessac’s Chateau Haut-Brion, the only first growth located outside of the Médoc, is said to have been the first to conceptualize fine red wine in Bordeaux back in the late 1600s. The estate, along with its high-esteemed neighbors, La Mission Haut-Brion, Les Carmes Haut-Brion, Pique-Caillou and Chateau Pape-Clément are today all but enveloped by the city of Bordeaux. The rest of the vineyards of Pessac-Léognan are in clearings of heavily forested area or abutting dense suburbs.
Arid sand and gravel on top of clay and limestone make the area unique and conducive to growing Sémillon and Sauvignon blanc as well as the grapes in the usual Left Bank red recipe: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and miniscule percentages of Petit Verdot and Malbec.
The best reds will show great force and finesse with inky blue and black fruit, mushroom, forest, tobacco, iodine and a smooth and intriguing texture.
Its best whites show complexity, longevity and no lack of exotic twists on citrus, tropical and stone fruit with pronounced floral and spice characteristics.