Wine Info

[jazznut]

Château La Tour Carnet is a 4ème Grand Cru Classé located inland from the Gironde in the commune of Saint Laurent (just to the west of Saint Julien) of the Haut-Médoc. Its Grand Vin combines a healthy proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon (>50%) with smaller proportions of Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot (all in all, a fairly typical mélange for the region). Conventional wisdom has it that this is one of the more quickly maturing Grands Crus Classés.

The 2003 vintage was, of course, notable for extreme heat, with harvesting taking place much earlier than normal and some wines exhibiting unusually high alcohol levels, strong tannins and a lack of balancing acidity. However, the properties of the Médoc and Haut-Médoc generally faired better in this regard than those of Pomerol and Saint Emilion.

I would anticipate Château La Tour Carnet 2003 to be showing very well from 6 years of age (2009 on). If you intend to broach it before then, I'd certainly recommend decanting an hour or so prior to serving (the serving of very young and structured wines constituting one of the few instances in which I favour decanting).