Château Tour Haut-Caussan Cru Bourgeois 1988

Lot presentation

Château Tour Haut-Caussan Cru Bourgeois 1988

The wine

Year upon year, La Tour Haut-Caussan shows itself to be one of the very best Médoc wines. No tricks are employed during vinification, and the wine is matured traditionally in barrels (25% replaced each year, with the remainder divided between barrels of one, two and three years of age). Produced from Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, it outdoes many of its neighbours in its sheer fruity intensity. It is enjoyed for its indulgent texture and thoroughbred character. A wine that can easily be kept for 5-15 years.

The property was bought by the Courrian family in 1877. It was covered in vineyards, encircling the windmill which is the domaine's symbol, appearing on its wine labels.The estate covers 17 hectares, and features two distinct areas. The first, located around the mill, consists of a superb limestone mound planted mainly with Merlot (70%), while the rest is Cabernet Sauvignon. These vines have a respectable average age of 60 (which is fairly rare in the Bordeaux region). The other sector is on the Potensac plateau, where the soil consists of a mixture of clay, gravel and limestone. This area is virtually a 50:50 split between Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Planting density varies slightly from sector to sector, but is around 7000 vines/hectare. The domaine tills its ground, and has not used fertiliser for over twenty years. Harvesting is manual – a fairly rare occurrence in these parts.