Château La Tour Figeac, Saint-Émilion, Grand Cru Classé

Press-Release concerning the tasting of the 2021 vintage  

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Family-owned for 50 years and now officially certified as organic wine When the Rettenmaier family acquired the winery in 1973, the immediate aspiration was to uplift the wine’s quality. Many efforts were made, drainages installed in the vineyard, the winery renovated and modernized several times, the vineyard management adapted to the latest findings in oenology. 27 years ago, at the beginning of the fertile collaboration with Christine and Stephane Derenoncourt, bio-dynamic methods were introduced to the vineyard so that our wines have been de facto organically produced for many years, yet without the official certification. These changes were further accompanied by the late François Bouchet, expert in biodynamic vineyard management from the Loire-valley, and the couple Lydia and Claude Bourguignon, experts for terroir and its microbiology.

The aim of the conversion was a higher vitality of our vines inducing a higher quality and more aromatic intensity for our harvest which allowed for much more precision in the expression of the terroir in our wines. Until today this philosophy is pursued by the team of Derenoncourt Consultant and especially their partner Julien Lavenu as the responsible oenologue of La Tour Figeac. It is the base of our distinct fruity and aromatic style.

In 2018 we finally decided to get the official organic certification, even if it was merely an administrative act. Thus our 2021 vintage, which you will taste again today after its bottling last April, is the first vintage carrying the official organic label from ECOCERT (FR-BIO-01)! And even though the certification is organic only, we will, of course, continue to apply many traditional biodynamic agricultural methods. Thus, our new vintage, the 50th of the Rettenmaier family, shows already auspicious quality: Luckily our microclimate brought a rather dry June, avoiding a larger outbreak of mildew. Summer was partly hot and overall dry, with some showers just at the right moments to allow for an even ripening of a satisfactory amount of grapes. The vinification is ongoing, and the first impressions promise a very good vintage!

Château La Tour Figeac, Membre de UGCB (Union Grands Crus Bordeaux) and AGCCSE (Grands Crus Classés Saint-Emilion)
Director: Pierre Blois