Frederic Engerer – The Engineer behind Chateau Latour

“What are you afraid of?” “What’s stopping you from doing that?” Those were the questions which the current owner of Chateau Latour, Francois Pinault asked the young 30-year-old, newly onboard manager, Frederic Engerer.

Graduated from the famous business school in Paris – Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales with a family of winemaking roots in Languedoc, Frederic Engerer is hardly considered a local in a conservative Bordeaux especially when he was put in charge of one of the oldest (2^nd to Chateau Haut-Brion in the record of history) and most prestigious Bordeaux house – Chateau Latour. Eyes were on him as to how a “young outsider” could outperform his predecessors in a wine that was already known for its legendary depth and solidity.

There are no hard and fast rules set by Francois Pinault on how Engerer should shape his Latour. Instead there was total freedom in doing anything (and everything) that his billionaire boss has entrusted him. After following and observing what his winemaker, Christian Le Sommer has done for Latour, in 1999, he removed his winemaker along with his Maitre de Chai (cellar master)，Denis Malbec and turned the winemaking role to himself. When I asked him to comment about his former winemaker, he told me he acknowledged what Le Sommer had done for Latour. However, to bring Latour to another level, change is inevitable and the traditional-minded Le Sommer was just not the right person to carry out the task. The young team he has later assembled includes, oenologist, Frederic Ardouin (left in 2007), Maitre de Chai, Pierre-Henri Chabot, viticulture manager, Domingo Sanchez.

Of 78 hectares (193 acres) vineyards in Latour, L’Enclos, the Grand Vin vineyard (traditionally, all the fruits goes into Chateau Latour) consists of 47 hectares (116 acres – same as Clos de Vougeot in size). L’Enclos, where the vineyard surrounds the Chateau, has a historical track that was dated back to the mid- 1700s. L’Enclos is elevated to a height of 15 meters, consists of gravels (pebbles) over clay and marl sub-soil. Like Burgundy, when the soil changed from marl to limestone, Pinot Noir will give way to Chardonnay. In this case of L’Enclos, Merlot will takeover Cabernets when the gravel is less deep and the clay soil is more prominent. Since Engerer has taken over the winemaking responsibility, he has broken the golden rule of L’Enclos of what always goes into Grand Vin. Over the years, Engerer, along with his co-workers echoes the work of Burgundy Cisterician Monks, analyzes the grape ripening behavior of each parcel, meticulously maps them and separates them from the previous larger blocks. Today, L’Enclos is sub-divided into 38 parcels of various sizes, much like what the Burgundy did with their lieu-dit (plot) inside the grand cru vineyards.

An enthusiast of burgundy will tell you the difference between George Jayer’s Echezeaux and Henri Jayer’s Echezeaux. Despite being both made by Henri Jayer, there is a gap between both Echezeauxs in terms of taste and potential (longevity) which cannot come unnoticed. The answer lies in the different lieu-dits (Craux versus Les Treux). “Each parcel within L’Enclos is different. There are differences in terms of vine age, hydric stress, yield, and harvest timing, not to mention some parcels are more consistent in quality than the others”. For example, “1) Cabernet Sauvignon from Piece du Chateau often ripens first, followed by Garennes and Jardinots; 2) Sarmentier consistently produced the most balance of Cabernet Sauvignon; 3) Merlot vines in Canteranne are much younger compared to SOCS 1, which produce more vigor and ripen early; 4) The south-eastern blocks facing Saint Julien of SOCS, Chais provide Cabernets with elegance and finesse, while the south-western blocks facing Pichon Lalande of Chene Vert, Juillac and Gravette made powerful Cabernets; 5) Despite Juillac 1 & 2 being adjacent to each other,  Juillac 1, designated for the planting of Cabernets and Juillac, was solely planted with Merlot due to the differences in soil composition”. “It’s this precision and attention to details that made Latour better”, say Engerer proudly. Besides understanding each parcel strength and contributions, nothing is systematic here and no single vintage is alike in terms of the proportion of which parcel that goes into the final blend of Latour. “Every year, Mother Nature sculpts the quality and character of each parcel differently. We assemble them according to a wine that best reflects the quality height of Latour,” added Engerer.

“How would you compare your “grands crus” with those in Burgundy?” I asked. “In Burgundy, ownership of vineyards was through inheritance. Not all grands crus are worth the price they asked due to the quality inconsistent with the vineyard parcels (lieu-dit), cultivation and winemaking. Yield and less strict elimination of lesser quality fruit are major issues. The law allows them to obtain the maximum yield out of their historical grands crus boundaries. The law also permits them to price their grands crus at a higher price”, which naturally lead to the maximum production of their grand cru parcels. In Latour, we are given more components to choose from. Year-in-year-out, no single parcel will methodically goes into grand vin. Our grand vin selection is much more severe. Only the finest fruits make it into the grand vin”. Engerer  further elaborates, “In burgundy, decisions are mostly made in the vineyards. In Bordeaux, assemble (assemblage) or blending is another vital skill to deliver greatness”.                   

While savoring the still “full of life” 1970 Les Forts de Latour that Engerer served for the dinner. Engerer could not resist but to add on and say, “Technically speaking, Les Forts de Latour is not a second wine, as it came from three single vineyards outside L’Enclos (Comtesse de Lalande, Petit Batailley and Sainte-Anne) along with the young vines of Grand Enclos (this parcel was replanted in 2000) and Garennes 2 within L’Enclos.

哇，安迪叔叔的沙发！

Andy叔叔的大作, 要好好看看...:)

我错了，马丁素素的素素，俺不能叫安迪叔叔的！

ANDY素素的好文。顶一个

搬个板凳学习。

Andy的文章要拜读的，希望多发好文。

顶一个拉......哈