Pomerol’s Château de Sales appoints new general manager
Pomerol’s historic Château de Sales has announced the arrival of Marie-Laure Latorre who will take over as its new general manager from 1 September.
Latorre, an agricultural engineer and oenologist with more than twenty years of experience in the fine wine industry, will work alongside Nicolas de Lambert des Granges, president of Château de Sales.
She began her career as a national buyer at the French supermarket chain, Système U, before joining the Bordeaux wine trade and then taking over the management of the five properties of the Vignobles Olivier Decelle group: Mas Amiel (Roussillon), Château Jean Faure (Saint-Émilion), Château Haut-Maurac (Médoc), Domaine Decelle & Fils (Burgundy), and Domaine de Boisseyt (Rhône Valley).
This château, which has belonged to the same family since 1578, is a property on the rise. Its somewhat cooler terroir and distinct varietal composition (with an unusually high proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon for Pomerol) has arguably seen it benefit more than many of its neighbours in recent vintages from climate change. Under Vincent Montigaud, who served as general manager for more than seven years and who Latorre succeeds, it focussed on in-depth work on production methods – optimizing ripeness and achieving greater precision in extraction.
Latorre’s mission will be to “promote the emblematic site while respecting its identity, history and high environmental standards”, the company said.
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In a statement, Latorre said she was looking forward to continuing the momentum set by her predecessor, Montigaud, working alongside Nicolas de Lambert des Granges and “putting my high standards, energy, and passion to work for this splendid estate”.
De Lambert des Granges warmly thanked Montigaud for his work over nearly eight years of cultivation and winemaking on behalf of the team and the entire family and said he was delighted to welcome Marie-Laure Latorre.
“Her extensive experience, her taste and talent for crafting great wines, as well as her human qualities, will enable us to continue, together, Château de Sales’s approach to viticulture that is ever more respectful of its environment and to produce even more precise, fruity, and elegant wines”.
It seems the summer recess is well and truly over in Pomerol. In addition to the change at de Sales, the Guidaudeau family, owners of the iconic Château Lafleur, shocked the fine wine world by announcing they were withdrawing of all of their wines from the appellation systems of both Pomerol and Bordeaux.
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