Latour

Tasting Notes:
The second wine seems to have picked up most of the Merlot from the Latour vineyards (31.5% Merlot and 66.5% Cabernet Sauvignon dominate the blend). The 2008 Les Forts de Latour is a forward, pure wine displaying remarkably sweet tannins along with aromas of black currants, forest floor, and a hint of underbrush. Opulent, round, and generous, it should drink well for 15-20 years, possibly longer given the fact that the 1982 Les Forts de Latour is still a beautiful wine, and itÕs ÙonlyÎ 27 years of age! Robert Parker Wine Advocate April 2009
Parker Points: 91-93
Drinking Period: 2009-2029

Tasting Notes:
The second wine seems to have picked up most of the Merlot from the Latour vineyards (31.5% Merlot and 66.5% Cabernet Sauvignon dominate the blend). The 2008 Les Forts de Latour is a forward, pure wine displaying remarkably sweet tannins along with aromas of black currants, forest floor, and a hint of underbrush. Opulent, round, and generous, it should drink well for 15-20 years, possibly longer given the fact that the 1982 Les Forts de Latour is still a beautiful wine, and itÕs ÙonlyÎ 27 years of age! Robert Parker Wine Advocate April 2009
Parker Points: 91-93
Drinking Period: 2009-2029

Tasting Notes:
The estateÕs second wine continues to go from strength to strength. The 2004 Forts de Latour (includes 75% Cabernet Sauvignon) reveals a deep ruby/purple hue, classic evolved cedary, lead pencil, and cassis characteristics, medium body, beautiful sweetness of fruit, and a more forward, evolved character than its big sibling. Enjoy it over the next 15+ years. Also tasted: 2004 Pauillac (87; $38.00) Wine Advocate # 171 Jun 2007
Parker Points: 90
Drinking Period: 2007-2022

Tasting Notes:
The rich, well-endowed 1990 possesses round, generous, surprisingly concentrated flavors. It will make ideal drinking over the next 10-15 years. The most complete second wine made at this property since their glorious 1982, over one-half of the crop was relegated to this wine. Robert Parker Wine Advocate
Parker Points: 90
Drinking Period: 1993-2005

Tasting Notes:
Damn me for saying it, but I actually think the 2008 Latour will turn out to be even better than the 2005 or 2000. I still have a weakness for the 2003, but it is somewhat atypical in how forward, fleshy, and opulent it is. The 2008 Latour is a more concentrated version of the 1996, and thatÕs saying something. The harvest took place between September 29 and October 7 for the Merlot, but the Cabernet Sauvignon finished around the 19th of October. The natural alcohol of 13.48% may be the highest ever achieved at Latour. The final blend is 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot, and 1% Cabernet Franc. Moreover, in a low yield year, only 40% of the production made it into the grand vin, so even with the global economic crisis, this is going to be a tightly allocated wine Ñ with under 10,000 cases produced. A fabulous infant, it exhibits an inky/purple color as well as extraordinarily pure notes of creme de cassis, crushed rocks, and flowers. The fact that there is no hint of oak is a testament to the vintageÕs density and richness. The wine possesses full-bodied power as well as a boatload of tannin, and it is even more backward than Lafite Rothschild. Nevertheless, the hallmark of a great wine and potentially top-notch vintage is the sweetness of the tannin, and that is evident. The wine is young, unevolved, and incredibly pure (another hallmark of this unexpectedly magical vintage) with an amazingly long, textured, layered finish. It should be forgotten for 5-8 years, and consumed over the following four decades. Robert Parker Wine Advocate April 2009
Parker Points: 96-98
Drinking Period: 2014-2054

Tasting Notes:
A flavorful, savory Latour, without a great deal of density or power, the 1997 exhibits sweet, walnut-tinged, black currant fruit intertwined with minerals and subtle wood. Nicely-textured, with adequate acidity, ripe tannin, and a medium-bodied finish, this smooth effort should drink well for 12-14 years. Wine Advocate # 128 Apr 2000
Parker Points: 89
Drinking Period: 2000-2014

Tasting Notes:
97 points. Fifty-six percent of the 1996 production made it into the Grand Vin, a blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. It is a massive, backward wine that comes close to being a monster. The 1996 appears to be a modern day version of 1966 or 1970, rather than the sweeter, more sumptuous, fatter styles of 1982 or 1990. The wine reveals an opaque ruby/purple colour, as well as reticent but emerging aromas of roasted nuts, blackberry fruit, tobacco and coffee with hints of pain grille in the background. massive and full-bodied in the mouth, it possesses extremely high tannin, fabulous concentration and purity and an impeccably long finish. This wine, bottled in July 1998, will require at least a decade of cellaring. Anticipated maturity: 2012 - 2040. Robert Parker - The Wine Advocate 4/99.
Parker Points: 99
Drinking Period: 2015-2050

Tasting Notes:
A beauty, the opaque dense purple-colored 1995 exhibits jammy cassis, vanillin, and minerals in its fragrant but still youthful aromatics. Medium to full-bodied, with exceptional purity, superb concentration, and a long, intense, ripe, 40-second finish, this is a magnificent example of Latour. As the wine sat in the glass, scents of roasted espresso and toasty new oak emerged. This classic will require considerable cellaring.
Parker Points: 96
Drinking Period: 2012-2050

Tasting Notes:
A beauty, the opaque dense purple-colored 1995 exhibits jammy cassis, vanillin, and minerals in its fragrant but still youthful aromatics. Medium to full-bodied, with exceptional purity, superb concentration, and a long, intense, ripe, 40-second finish, this is a magnificent example of Latour. As the wine sat in the glass, scents of roasted espresso and toasty new oak emerged. This classic will require considerable cellaring.
Parker Points: 96
Drinking Period: 2012-2050

Tasting Notes:
A beauty, the opaque dense purple-colored 1995 exhibits jammy cassis, vanillin, and minerals in its fragrant but still youthful aromatics. Medium to full-bodied, with exceptional purity, superb concentration, and a long, intense, ripe, 40-second finish, this is a magnificent example of Latour. As the wine sat in the glass, scents of roasted espresso and toasty new oak emerged. This classic will require considerable cellaring.
Parker Points: 96
Drinking Period: 2012-2050

Tasting Notes:
This is a beauty, but not the awesome blockbuster I remembered. There is a roasted, earthy, hot year character with extremely low acidity, fleshy, seductive, opulently-textured flavors, and a full-bodied finish with considerable amounts of glycerin and tannin. The wine was sweet, accessible, and seductive on the attack, but it closed down in the mouth. Interestingly, when I previously tasted this wine (about six months ago) from a bottle in my cellar, I found it to be impenetrable, needing at least 6-10 years of further cellaring. Based on this example from the Chateau's cellar, it could be drunk now. In any event, it will last 25-30 years, but is it the immortal classic many observers, including myself, thought it was? Wine Advocate # 129 Jun 2000
Parker Points: 96
Drinking Period: 2005-2030

Tasting Notes:
As I indicated in the review of the 1982 Bordeaux, this is an unusual Latour in the fact that it has always been precocious. It has been jammy, forward, and delicious no matter when the cork was pulled, in total contrast to its two first-growth siblings, Mouton Rothschild and Lafite-Rothschild. The dense, opaque garnet-colored 1982 Latour reveals slight amber at the edge. Sweet, smoky, roasted aromas in the nose combine with jammy levels of black currant, cherry, and prune-like fruit. It possesses extraordinary concentration and unctuosity, with a thick, fat texture oozing notes of cedar wood, tobacco, coffee, and over-ripe fruit. Low acidity as well as high alcohol (for Bordeaux) give the wine even more glycerin and textural chewiness. The finish lasts forever. The only Latour that remotely resembles the 1982 is the 1961, which has a similar texture and succulence. Wine Advocate # 129 Jun 2000
Parker Points: 100
Drinking Period: Now-2040

Tasting Notes:
Port-like, with an unctuous texture, and a dark garnet color with considerable amber at the edge, the 1961 Latour possesses a viscosity and thickness. One of the three bottles served at the Chateau's tasting revealed a surprisingly aggressive, minty, herbaceous nose, but the other two bottles were liquid perfection, exhibiting fragrant, cedary, truffle, leather, mineral, and sweet, jammy aromatics, full-bodied, voluptuous textures, exquisite purity and concentration, and a layered, highly-nuanced finish that represents the essence of compellingly great wine. The 1961 has been fully mature for over 15 years, but it seems to get richer, holding onto its succulence and fat, and developing more aromatic nuances without losing any sweetness or concentration. An extraordinary wine, it is unquestionably one of the Bordeaux legends of the century! Anticipated maturity: now-2025 Wine Advocate # 129 Jun 2000
Parker Points: 100
Drinking Period: 2000-2025

Tasting Notes:
Dark garnet with an amber edge, the 1959 Latour reveals a touch of volatile acidity in the nose, along with aromas of melted caramel, tobacco, and jammy red and black fruits. As the wine sat in the glass, notes of minerals, coffee, spice, and underbrush emerged. There is still copious tannin in the finish (I am not sure it will ever be fully resolved), but this sumptuous, complex, fragrant, super-rich Latour cuts a broad swath across the palate. Fully mature, it is best consumed over the next decade. Wine Advocate # 129 Jun 2000
Parker Points: 96
Drinking Period: 2000-2010

Tasting Notes:
Dark garnet with an amber edge, the 1959 Latour reveals a touch of volatile acidity in the nose, along with aromas of melted caramel, tobacco, and jammy red and black fruits. As the wine sat in the glass, notes of minerals, coffee, spice, and underbrush emerged. There is still copious tannin in the finish (I am not sure it will ever be fully resolved), but this sumptuous, complex, fragrant, super-rich Latour cuts a broad swath across the palate. Fully mature, it is best consumed over the next decade. Wine Advocate # 129 Jun 2000
Parker Points: 96
Drinking Period: 2000-2010