94pts James Suckling

This is very perfumed with blackberry and blueberry aromas, but shows a hot-stone and blanched-almond undertone. Medium-to full-bodied with tight and silky tannins that are extremely polished and beautiful. Love the length and balance to this. Try after 2022.

93pts Wine Enthusiast

A structured wine backed by plenty of black-currant fruits, this is initially austere. Its richness needs time to develop and turn into the classically structured wine that this estate does so well. Drink from 2025.

93pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2016 Latour Martillac is medium to deep garnet-purple in color with warm plums, kirsch and redcurrant jelly on the nose with touches of bay leaves, iron ore and black soil. Medium-bodied with a well-sustained mid-palate of muscular fruit, it has a firm backbone of fine-grained tannins and wonderful freshness, finishing very long.

93pts Vinous

The 2016 Latour-Martillac offers classic Pessac-Léognan scents on the nose: black fruit, black olive and a touch of sage, plus hints of blue fruit that emerge with time. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit and fine acidity. A little compact toward the finish, but with good persistence. My feeling is that this will close down quite soon after bottling, but there is a great wine here.

92pts Decanter

This has a fairly high aromatic profile, with a lovely density of brambled blackberry and cassis that's deepened with time in the bottle. There’s a touch of austerity through the mid-palate and the acidity is relatively high, but there's fruit and tannin to back it up. It will age extremely well. Impressive.

91pts Jeb Dunnuck

The 2016 Château Latour-Martillac is also terrific and has a structured, medium-bodied, firm style that’s going to benefit from cellaring. Blackberries, graphite, new leather, and a kiss of tobacco all emerge from this nicely textured, pure, layered Pessac. Give bottles 4-5 years and enjoy over the following two decades.

90pts Wine Spectator

Solid, with a juicy yet restrained core of dark currant and blackberry compote flavors that should unwind nicely with modest cellaring thanks to nicely embedded brambly grip and dried tobacco leaf, anise and tar notes that run through the gutsy finish. Best from 2021 through 2026.

Tasting Notes

The 2016 Lacroix-Martillac, a rich garnet red with purple reflections. The nose reveals ripe fruit backed by smokey aromas. The palate is rich and fruity with a presence of powerful but rounded tannins. A long fresh finish. Drinking over the next 10 years.

About the Winery

At the beginning of the 1930’s, Alfred Kressmann and his son Jean – both with remarkable artistic talents designed a label for their new vintage.
It was inspired by the Art Deco movement which was very in vogue at that time and created the famous design « gold and sandy stripes » which proudly adorns the bottles to this day.

Today, the 6 children of Jean Kressmann own the domain and continue on the family tradition. Tristan and Loïc, the two younger sons, manage the estate with the assistance of the best wine consultants in Bordeaux. With each following vintage they produce the best from this authentic Graves soil.
Since the 1980’s, they have increased the area planted in Sauvignon Blanc to compliment perfectly with the Semillon, the historical grape variety of the property.
For the red varieties, the tradition of blending Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot is now topped up with the excellent Petit Verdot variety, which is planted in one of the best gravel plots of the plateau of Martillac.

Blend: 55% Cabernet Sauvignon; 40% Merlot; 5% Petit Verdot