Haut-Médoc · 4th grand cru classé in 1855
Château La Tour Carnet: available vintages, prices and pairings
The La Tour Carnet grand vin, vintage by vintage, with the format, the guide price and what to expect from it today: ready to drink, or to keep. Tick what interests you, and the quote request goes with your selection.
The vintages on the price list
Filter by budget or by “ready to drink”. Nothing is sent until you click on the quote.
The château
In Saint-Laurent-Médoc, a fortified medieval manor surrounded by a moat, one of the oldest houses in the Médoc; Montaigne's family once owned it. Bernard Magrez, owner of Pape Clément, bought it in 1999 and restored it completely.
Merlot and cabernet sauvignon in similar proportions, a little cabernet franc and petit verdot. A round, affordable classified growth, ready at around six years, that keeps for about twenty. The other châteaux of the appellation are on the Haut-Médoc wines page.
The vineyard rests on a base of very chalky clay, covered with a thick layer of Günz gravel. It is densely planted, 8,000 to 10,000 vines per hectare. The château hosts the La Tour Carnet 2050 project: on one plot, heating cables bring the vine's cycle forward to simulate the climate expected around 2050, and a vat room of 84 small vats vinifies each of the grape varieties studied separately. Blend: 70% merlot and 30% cabernet sauvignon in 2015; 60% merlot, 37% cabernet sauvignon and 3% cabernet franc in 2016. The wine is aged for sixteen months in barrels, 30% of them new.
What to serve it with
- A vintage of eight years and more: lamb (what wine with lamb), rib of beef (what wine with beef).
- A younger vintage: duck breast (what wine with duck), roast poultry (what wine with poultry).
- With cheese: firm cheeses (what wine with cheese).
Which vintage for which occasion
An 1855 classified growth at a table-wine price, and a château with a story to tell: for a wedding (which Bordeaux for a wedding) or client gifts (end-of-year client gifts). For a birthday, the birth year, if the table has it (birth-year vintage).
Is Château La Tour Carnet a grand cru classé?
Yes. It is a fourth growth (quatrième grand cru classé) in the 1855 classification, in the Haut-Médoc appellation.
Can you visit the château?
Many Médoc châteaux welcome visitors by appointment; ask this one directly. The Transvins quote does not include a visit.
When should you drink a La Tour Carnet?
Allow six years before opening it and twenty years of good drinking, a little more in a great year, a little less in a weak year or in half bottle. The table applies this rule to each line; it isn't a tasting note, and a badly stored bottle ages faster.
Are the prices shown the prices on the quote?
They're the guide prices from the price list, incl. VAT, per bottle of the format, excluding delivery. The quote confirms the price, the availability of each vintage and the shipping; the delivery grid gives the lead times. For a vintage not in the table, the quote request is still open.