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Named after the turrets that embellish the château, our wine Les Tourelles de Longueville, embodies the charm of the estate.
The grapes that are used to blend the wine come essentially from the Sainte Anne plot, planted mainly to merlot, giving to it a distinctive personality.
Les Tourelles de Longueville is an invitation to enter a world of flavour, charm, roundness and sensual delight.
This wine provides an introduction to the spirit of Pichon Baron and can be enjoyed young or aged in the cellar for 15 years or more. -
Tasting note
The colour of Les Tourelles de Longueville 2012 is deep ruby red and the bouquet reveals the red berry scents that are characteristic of the vintage, along with a nice fresh touch. The sensation on the palate is silky and full, elegant and subtle. This is a harmonious wine, still a little firm and tense for the moment, but distinguished and accessible. It is long-lasting in a rather fleshy way and precise, as well as being very charming and subtle.
Jean-René Matignon - Technical Director - April 2015 -
Vintage conditions
To nurture this late-blossoming vintage, we intensified our 'green harvesting' operations: bud thinning, shoot selection, tying-off, removal of secondary shoots, leaf removal and bunch thinning. The beautiful weather which persisted throughout September helped speed up the ripening process, and by the end of the month the vines looked to be in top condition.
The grapes were picked and brought into the vat-house plot by plot, in order of maturity, with particular attention paid to plot selection. Meticulous attention to these details was particularly important this year. The harvests lasted from October 1st to 17th. The first four days focused on the early-blossoming vines, such as the Sainte Anne. Next up were the oldest merlot vines, with harvesting complete on October 10th. The cabernet franc and petit verdot plots were next, with the harvest finally concluding with the oldest cabernet-sauvignon.
Vinification followed the lead set by our bespoke harvesting operation, with the fruit of each plot vinified separately in its own designated vat. The objective was to respect the innate qualities of the vintage. After a very smooth fermentation process, the juices remained in the vats for two to three weeks. The 2012 vintage was blessed with an excellent concentration of polyphenols. -
Blend
60% merlot, 29% cabernet-sauvignon, 8% cabernet franc, 3% petit verdot
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Ageing
30% in new barrels, 70% from barrels of one vintage, for 12 months