Château
Château La Tour Carnet
How to read this
Capitals mark the stressed syllable. The French r comes from the back of the throat. The recording is the reference.
A moated medieval tower at Saint-Laurent that Bernard Magrez bought in 2000 with 44 hectares and has grown to about 190, and a vineyard that is rehearsing the climate of 2050.
- Appellation
Haut-Médoc - Classification
- Quatrième Cru Classé 1855
- On Instagram
- @chateaulatourcarnet
- Châteaux
- See it among the 629
The château
The tower and its moat are the oldest things on the estate; the building dates from 1120. Michel de Montaigne’s sister lived here, and a guest room carries his name. La Tour Carnet was ranked a fourth growth in 1855, and when the Pelegrin family sold it to Bernard Magrez in 2000 it stood at 44 hectares. It runs to about 190 today. Magrez, who was 90 in 2026, has named his son Philippe as his successor across the group.
The planting leans to Merlot, which is unusual for a classified growth of the
La Tour Carnet 2050 is the project to know. From 2013 the estate planted 84 varieties from a private collection, forgotten ones among them, and laid electric cables in the soil to warm selected rows and force the ripening that a climate 2 to 4 degrees warmer would bring. A vat house of 84 thermoregulated vats went in in 2022, so that each variety can be made on its own. Behind the fortress walls the cellar is thoroughly modern, optical sorting included, and the 2014, which I tasted in December 2025, had the poise of a cooler year: polish without the swagger of the hot vintages.
At a glance
- Appellation
Haut-Médoc - Commune
- Saint-Laurent-
Médoc - Classification
- Quatrième Cru Classé 1855
- Owner
- Bernard Magrez, since 2000; the Pelegrin family before him
- Vineyard
- About 190 hectares, against 44 in 2000
- Soil
- Pyrenean and Günz gravel over clay and limestone Terroir of
Haut-Médoc → - Grapes
- Merlot about 59%, Cabernet Sauvignon about 35%, with a little Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot
- Cellar
- Optical sorting; 16 months in oak, about 30% new; a vat house of 84 thermoregulated vats, 2022
- Wines
Château La Tour Carnet ; La Mémoire de La Tour Carnet; a white sold as Bordeaux- The tower
- Moated, from 1120
- La Tour Carnet 2050
- 84 varieties planted from 2013, and cables in the soil to warm the rows
Sources
- Institutions
- Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux,
Château La Tour Carnet - Its own publications
Château La Tour Carnet : the estate, La Tour Carnet 2050; Bernard Magrez,Château La Tour Carnet
Revised October 18, 2026. How I choose sources
The record
The 1855 Classification was published on April 18, 1855, drawn up by the brokers of the Bordeaux exchange for the Exposition Universelle in Paris.
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By invitation only.
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