Château Latour is a renowned winery located in the Pauillac appellation of Bordeaux, France. The history of this estate dates back to the 14th century, when it was owned by the de Segur family. In the 17th century, the property was acquired by the Latour family, who gave the estate its current name.
Château Latour is known for producing some of the finest wines in the world, particularly its red Bordeaux blends. The estate has a total vineyard area of 78 hectares, with the majority of the vines planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, followed by Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot.
The style of production at Château Latour is traditional, with a focus on quality and consistency. The grapes are hand-harvested and sorted before being fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. The wine is then aged in oak barrels for up to 18 months, depending on the vintage.
The wines of Château Latour are known for their power, elegance, and longevity. They are full-bodied and complex, with aromas of blackcurrant, cedar, and tobacco. The tannins are firm and structured, providing the wine with great aging potential.
Château Latour produces several different wines, including its flagship wine, Château Latour, as well as Les Forts de Latour, a second wine made from younger vines. The estate also produces a white wine, called Pauillac de Château Latour, which is made from Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon grapes.
Overall, Château Latour is a producer of some of the finest wines in the world, with a long history of excellence and a commitment to quality. Its wines are highly sought after by collectors and wine enthusiasts alike, and are sure to impress even the most discerning palate.
Agneau, bœuf, chevreuil, gibier à plumes, canard, charcuterie et charcuterie
Château Latour is a renowned winery located in the Pauillac appellation of Bordeaux, France. The history of this estate dates back to the 14th century, when it was owned by the de Segur family. In the 17th century, the property was acquired by the Latour family, who gave the estate its current name.
Château Latour is known for producing some of the finest wines in the world, particularly its red Bordeaux blends. The estate has a total vineyard area of 78 hectares, with the majority of the vines planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, followed by Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot.
The style of production at Château Latour is traditional, with a focus on quality and consistency. The grapes are hand-harvested and sorted before being fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. The wine is then aged in oak barrels for up to 18 months, depending on the vintage.
The wines of Château Latour are known for their power, elegance, and longevity. They are full-bodied and complex, with aromas of blackcurrant, cedar, and tobacco. The tannins are firm and structured, providing the wine with great aging potential.
Château Latour produces several different wines, including its flagship wine, Château Latour, as well as Les Forts de Latour, a second wine made from younger vines. The estate also produces a white wine, called Pauillac de Château Latour, which is made from Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon grapes.
Overall, Château Latour is a producer of some of the finest wines in the world, with a long history of excellence and a commitment to quality. Its wines are highly sought after by collectors and wine enthusiasts alike, and are sure to impress even the most discerning palate.
Medium to deep garnet coloured, the nose slowly, measuredly emerges with notions of preserved Morello cherries, baked blackcurrants, and blackberry compote, giving way to nuances of pencil shavings, unsmoked cigars, Chinese five spice and sandalwood plus ever so subtle hints of cardamom and eucalyptus. Medium-bodied, the palate delivers mouth-coating black and red fruit preserves with a firm, grainy-textured frame, and fantastic freshness, finishing with a veritable firework display of lingering spices and minerals.
This is a more restrained, relatively elegant vintage of Latour that may not have that “iron fist in a velvet glove” power of the greatest vintages but nonetheless struts its superior terroir and behind-the-scenes savoir faire with impressive panache. It is drinking nicely now with suitably rounded-off, approachable tannins, and the tertiary characters are just beginning to bring some more cerebral elements into the compote of temptingly primary black fruits. But, if you’re looking to drink it in full, flamboyant swing, give it another 5-10 years in bottle and drink it over the next 20-25 years+.
One of the vintage's most compelling wines, it possesses a dense ruby/purple colour as well as a sweet, open-knit personality with ripe tannin, superb intensity, good purity and harmony, a medium to full-bodied mouthfeel, and lots of crushed rock, floral and black as well as blue fruit notes in addition to hints of ink and forest floor. This beautifully rich, savoury Latour will be surprisingly drinkable in 4-5 years, and should age easily for two decades or more.
The 2010 Latour is deep garnet in color, and—WOW—it erupts from the glass with powerful crème de cassis, Black Forest cake and blackberry pie scents plus intense sparks of dried roses, cigar boxes, fragrant earth and smoked meats with aniseed and crushed rocks wafts. Full-bodied, concentrated and oh-so-decadent in the mouth, it has a firm, grainy texture and lovely freshness carrying the rich, opulent fruit to an epically long finish. It is incredibly tempting to drink now, but I suspect this hedonic experience isn't a scratch on the mind-blowing, otherworldly secrets this time capsule will have to reveal given another 7-10 years in bottle and continuing over the following fifty years +.
Deep garnet colored, the 2009 Latour is unashamedly youthful with bold blackcurrants, black cherries and warm plums notes plus nuances of cedar chest, aniseed, beef drippings, truffles and tapenade with a waft of tilled black soil. Full, concentrated and powerful in the mouth, it has a rock-solid frame of super ripe, grainy tannins and fantastic freshness, finishing very long and wonderfully minerally. Just a baby - this needs time!
The 2008 Latour gives a medium to deep garnet colour and slips sensuously out of the glass with Chinese five spice, unsmoked cigars, sandalwood and dried roses scents over a core of warm cassis, Black Forest cake, chocolate mint and smoked meats plus a waft of black olives and garrigue. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is well-sustained in the middle with generous black fruits and lovely red fruit sparks, layered with savoury nuances and a firm, grainy backbone, finishing with bags of perfume and freshness.
Not an outstanding vintage overall for Bordeaux, 2006 had the potential to be very good. Things got off to an impressive start in Pauillac this year, and then it all went a bit pear-shaped toward the end with a cool, rainy August and late September.
Vineyard diligence and a take-no-prisoners attitude on the sorting table were the keys to relative success here. While it is clear Latour had their work cut out for them with this 2006 release, they managed to produce incredibly impressive grand vin, which is drinking beautifully now yet should cellar gracefully over the next 20+ years.
It has a medium to deep garnet-purple colour and lovely open nose with florals and red fruit aromas. The palate is medium-bodied, elegant, and minerally with a compelling iron ore character and great length.
The 2005 Latour is blended of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, with the rest Merlot and Petit Verdot. It is the biggest surprise of this tasting—until now, the wine was relatively closed and broody, but today the wine is just starting to reveal its personality—and what a stunner! Medium to deep garnet-purple coloured, it opens with provocative floral scents of roses and violets over a core of fresh blackcurrants, chocolate-covered cherries, and black raspberries with hints of fertile loam, unsmoked cigars, and black tea. Medium to full-bodied, firm, grainy and packed with muscular fruit, it has an epically long, savoury finish sparked by floral notes.
The 2004 Latour is perhaps evolving slower than I expected, although it remains one of the finest Left Bank wines of the vintage. It has that quintessential graphite-scented bouquet intermixed with blackberry and cedar, although the liquorice note that I observed previously has receded. Again, there is wonderful definition. The palate is full-bodied but surprisingly more sultry than I expected, especially here where I was able to directly compare it with the other 2004 First Growths. It delivers the "authority" you expect from Latour, although I might be inclined just to give it another 2-3 years in bottle.
2003 was one of the hottest, earliest Bordeaux vintages ever. Some vines suffered from lack of moisture, but old vines and clay subsoil at Enclos saw this vineyard through. The Merlot harvest occurred between September 8 and 13, and the Cabernet Sauvignon was picked between September 22 and 30. The 2003 Latour is a blend of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot. Six percent of the press wine was added to the final blend. It has a medium to deep garnet-purple color, then wow—it explodes from the glass with bombastic black and blue fruits, followed up by meat, wood smoke, sandalwood and Indian spice accents with underlying floral wafts. The palate is full, rich, velvety, seductive and very long on the finish.
The wine of the vintage? There are only 10,000 cases of this extraordinarily rich, dense 2002 that is as powerful as the 2003. It is dark ruby/purple to the rim, with notes of English walnuts, crushed rocks, black currants, and forest floor, dense, full-bodied, and opulent, yet classic with spectacular aromatics, marvellous purity, and a full-bodied finish that lasts just over 50+ seconds.
Huge richness and the sweetness of the tannin are somewhat deceptive as this wine seems set for a long life. Administrator Frederic Engerer seems to be more pleased with what Latour achieved in 2002 than in any other recent vintage. Hats off to him for an extraordinary accomplishment in a vintage that wouldn’t have been expected to produce the raw materials to achieve something at this level of quality.
A brilliant offering, which should be drinkable much earlier than the blockbuster 2000, the 2001 Latour boasts an inky/ruby/purple colour to the rim as well as a glorious bouquet of black currants, crushed stones, vanilla, and hints of truffles and oak. A blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and the balance primarily Merlot with a touch of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, it reveals a sweetness on the palate that is atypical for such a young Latour.
The beautiful integration of tannin, acidity, and wood is stunning. The wine flows across the palate with fabulous texture, purity, and presence. This luscious, full-bodied Latour was surprisingly open knit on the three occasions I tasted it from bottle. However, do not mistake its aging ability as this 2001, despite its precociousness, will last 20-25 years.
2000 saw a warm, dry July and August with a small amount of rain from mid-September onward. Composed of 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot, the 2000 Latour has a deep garnet colour and is showing a good amount of evolution, sporting mature notes of fried exotic spices, hoisin, unsmoked cigars, and fruitcake with hints of incense, potpourri, cast iron pan and charcuterie. Medium-bodied, soft, plush, and savoury in the mouth, it has a long, mineral-tinged finish.
''From my cellar, the 1996 Latour is still a very youthful, tightly wound wine, unfurling in the glass with notions of blackcurrants, loamy soil, cigar wrapper and English walnuts. Medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, it's built around by ripe, increasingly melting tannins and a bright spine of acidity, concluding with a long, penetrating finish. Given this Latour's ruby-black hue and impeccable structure, it still has a long future ahead of it. Today, it really begins to expatiate after four hours in a decanter.'' - William Kelley
