Geography An old Medocain proverb says that "only the vines that overlook the water are capable of producing wines of great quality". It is this very privileged setting, located only 300 meters from the Gironde river that bestows all its uniqueness upon the Château Latour wine. In front of Pauillac, the estuary is 7 km (4 miles) wide. Therefore, the extreme weather conditions, and more especially the spells of excessive cold, are tempered. One striking example of the importance of the river occured in 1991, during the night of the 20th to the 21st April : that night, a severe frost hit all the Bordeaux region, with an average of 70% losses in the vineyards-but the "Enclos" of Latour lost only 30% of its production ! This capacity to soften the winter and spring temperatures also allows the whole vegetation cycle to develop in advance at Château Latour, always several days ahead if compared with vineyards more distant from the river, and therefore allows earlier harvests. Geology In addition to this regulating function, the Gironde actually constructed and shaped the Medocain sub-soil. Located at 2.5 km (1.5 miles) south of the city of Pauillac, the Château Latour vineyard lies on a large brow of gravels that culminates at 15 meters high, in front the lower land called "palu" and the Gironde river. The top soil consists of a layer 0,6 to 1 meter thick of gravels (pebbles) which was formed in the Günzian, at the beginning of the Quaternary, and carried out from the Pyrénées and the Massif Central by the Gironde when the glaciers melted (beginning of the Quaternary). Only vines can grow on such a poor pebble soil. These natural conditions force the roots of the vines to make their way down to find their vital nutrition. Therefore the vines are only pumping the minimum, a very concentrated and dense alimentation that adds eventually to the wine's complexity. All along the vegetation cycle, these gravels contribute to the maturation of the vines by absorbing the heat of the sun, and reflecting it, even at night. These layers of gravels are very permeable and allow the water to run down to the sub-layers of marls and clays, situated just underneath. This richer sub-soil plays an essential role in summer, when the drought prevents the vines from finding water. These layers capture the water and are able to provide a minimum alimentation to the vines, allowing them to stay "alive" and active until the end of the maturation cycle, and thus to optimize the sugar level in the fruit. As a consequence, the roots of the vines at Château Latour, and especially of the older vines, are installed very deep in the sub-soil (up to 5 meters). These marls and clay layers are essentially found near the Gironde, and are mostly replaced by sand (thus losing the hydrous regulation capacity) when one moves away from it. This exceptional combination of layers of gravels in the top-soil, then clay and marls underneath, gives the soil of Château Latour an amazing singularity. Climate Thanks to the influence of the Atlantic Ocean nearby, the Medoc climate has the generous characteristics of an oceanic climate as well as its capricious aspects : - Mild winters with occasional cold spells. - Springs are usually divided in two parts, the first being cool and damp, the second mild but often rainy. - The summers are often warm and at times humid until mid-July, when it becomes much drier. - The beginning of autumn, from Sept. 10th to Oct. 20th, is often warm and sunny, which allows the grapes to be gathered under favourable conditions.