94pts James Suckling
Currants, black cherries, and spices. Medium- to full-bodied with very fine and polished tannins and an extremely long, flavorful finish. Give this three or four years to come together, but lovely structure. Best ever?
92pts Jane Anson
Attractive plum colour, an enticing nose with black cherry, damson and a kiss of oak. The palate opens with chocolate drops and cassis puree, silky tannins, well balanced. This is a wine that I find sometimes inconsistent between vintages, but it's a great quality 2020 with some appellation signature, good expansion through the mid palate, a little tight on the finish but in the way that makes you feel this is young and will soften further over ageing. Vignobles Marie-Laure Lurton, Eric Boissenot consultant.
92pts Jeb Dunnuck
An impressive Margaux, the 2020 Château La Tour De Bessan is loaded with red and black fruits as well as spicy oak, lead pencil, and violets, with medium-bodied richness, terrific overall balance, integrated tannins, and a solid mid-palate, it should certainly be an outstanding wine and offer 10-15 years or more of prime drinking.
90pts Vinous
The 2020 La Tour de Bessan is very, very good. A blast of dark cherry fruit, smoke, licorice, blackberry and espresso races across the palate. The 2020 is dark and brooding, yet retains a mid-weight sense of structure. There is certainly plenty to like.
90pts The Wine Independent
La Tour de Bessan 2020 is deep garnet-purple in color. It offers up notes of stewed red and black plums, boysenberries, and fragrant soil, with touches of lavender and wild thyme. The medium-bodied palate offers compelling energy, with plenty of vibrant black fruits and a soft texture, finishing with a skip in its step.
90pts The Wine Cellar Insider
Fresh, bright, forward wine with a lean to its tobacco, red currants, mocha and spicy side. The wine is medium-bodied, energetic and floral with ample, juicy red fruits and savory herbs on the palate and in the finish. This is a solid value wine from the Margaux appellation. Drink from 2023-2036
History
This wine estate was originally part of the grounds of a 13th century tower situated in Soussans. Today, all that remains is some ruins of the former fortified site that was built to protect the lord Jehan Colomb while he was staying on his land. This tower remained the property of the Colomb family until 1390 after which several illustrious local families owned it: the Durforts, the Garros and then the lords of Mons in 1488.
Their last of the line, Thérèse, married the son of the great author Montesquieu in 1740. Their descendants kept the title of Lord of Soussans until the French Revolution.
In 1972 Lucien Lurton bought the tower and vineyards from the Clauzel family. As the new owner, he did everything necessary in order to re-establish the wine estate, while supervising his other properties.
In 1992, his daughter, Marie-Laure, took over the management of La Tour de Bessan. With her degree in wine making and armed with 6 years of experience on her father’s estates, she knew each of its vineyard blocks like the back of her hand.
Her first investments were in the vineyard: increasing the height of the trellising, vine replacement, uprooting certain vines and replacing them. She also invested in the wine making side of the château: in 1999 a building from 1934 was renovated and redesigned in order to house the ergonomic cellars, a barrel maturation cellar and a tasting room.
This contemporary building, beautifully designed by the architect Vincent Defos du Rau from Toulouse, is a reflection of the dynamic spirit of the wine estate as well as the quality of its wines.
