The Tower on the Label Never Saw That Battlefield. So What Is Latour’s “Tower”?

Château Latour. The label always shows the same single tower, and the name itself comes from that tower, La Tour. In the previous story, we introduced it as a tower carrying the memory of the Hundred Years’ War.

But let us pause for a moment. The tower shown on the label is not the building that actually witnessed the battlefield. What, then, is that tower?

Basic Information

The Name of the Tower Survived; the Tower Itself Did Not

A tower on this land first appears in a record from 1331 as the “Tower of Saint-Lambert.” Its name changed over time to the “Tower of Saint-Maubert” and eventually settled into the single word “Latour.” Around the Battle of Castillon in 1453, which marked the end of the Hundred Years’ War, the medieval defensive tower here is thought to have been attacked and dismantled.

There is one fact that is not often mentioned. The tower now shown on the label and still standing on the estate, known as the “Tower of Saint-Lambert,” was built about 170 years after that dismantling, in the 1620s. It was not a defensive stronghold but a dovecote built to house pigeons. It is said to have been constructed in memory of the earlier tower, although the surviving records do not confirm whether stones from the original structure were reused.

The tower on the label is therefore not the memory of battle itself. It is another tower, rebuilt in peacetime to recall that memory. The name survived for centuries, while the building quietly passed from one generation to another.

When One Lord Held Three Future First Growths at Once

In the 18th century, the vineyards below the tower were controlled by Nicolas-Alexandre de Ségur, president of the Parliament of Bordeaux. His father, Alexandre, married the heiress of Lafite in 1695. This brought Lafite together with the family estate of Latour, and Nicolas-Alexandre inherited both when his father died in 1716. In 1718, he also acquired Mouton and Calon-Ségur. For a time, he occupied the exceptional position of owning three estates that would later become First Growths: Latour, Lafite, and Mouton.

He is remembered by the epithet “Prince of the Vines” (Prince des Vignes). While the name itself appears widely in the record, the court anecdote often used to explain it has not been confirmed in primary sources and is more accurately treated as tradition.

When Nicolas-Alexandre died in 1755, the other estates were divided or sold. Latour, however, remained with the Ségur family. It would be almost another 200 years, in 1963, before the family relinquished most of its control of the estate.

After 30 Years of British Ownership, the Tower Returned to France

In 1963, the heirs of the Ségur family sold a majority of Latour’s shares to British investors. For the next 30 years, the château was in British hands. During this period, management modernized the winemaking facilities and, while preserving tradition, made Latour one of the earlier First Growth estates to introduce temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks.

In July 1993, French businessman François Pinault acquired all the shares, returning Latour to French ownership after three decades. Sources disagree on the transaction amount, so the relevant fact here is simply that control passed from British owners to a French businessman.

Today, the château is owned by Groupe Artémis, the holding company of the Pinault family, and belongs to its wine division, Artémis Domaines. Frédéric Engerer has led the estate for many years, beginning in the mid-1990s. The second wine, Les Forts de Latour, first produced in 1966 and drawn mainly from parcels of younger vines, continues to be made each year.

The name of the tower dates from 1331. The story of its ownership is still unfolding.

Three Facts Worth Knowing

• The tower on the label did not actually witness the Hundred Years’ War. It is a dovecote built in the 1620s, about 170 years after the medieval tower was dismantled in 1453, in memory of that earlier structure.
• The Ségur family retained Latour for around 200 years. One of its heads once simultaneously owned three estates that would later become First Growths: Latour, Lafite, and Mouton.
• The current owner is the French family holding company Groupe Artémis. In 1993, Latour returned to French ownership after 30 years under British capital. Its second wine is Les Forts de Latour.