A first sorting of the fruit is done in the vines. The whole of the crop is picked using small crates. All the grapes are pressed in a pneumatic press for around two hours. Settling of the juices at low temperature over 24 hours. Cold stabulation for 6 to 8 days. Alcoholic fermentation between 15°C and 18°C for about 15 days. Ageing on the fine lees for 8 to 10 months with bâtonnage once or twice a week. This wine undergoes no pumping or filtering until it is bottled: the whole of the vinification and ageing processes are carried out using gravity-flow.
The 2015 La Tour Carnet Blanc is a blend of 54% Sauvignon Blanc, 26% Sauvignon Gris and 20% Semillon cropped at 24 hectoliters per hectare, picked between September 14 and 18. It has a very crisp and appealing bouquet of lemon curd, citrus fruit and apricot blossom that gains intensity in the glass. The palate is well balanced and does not quite deliver on the promise of the aromatics, perhaps not as complex as I was expecting, though there is respectable weight and length on the harmonious finish. Not bad at all, though it needs to raise its game to match its red counterpart. Apr 2016, www.robertparker.com