2007 - Les Forts de Latour, Pauillac

Good full, deep red. Aromas of cassis, licorice and pepper. Supple and sweet but serious, with a slightly medicinal cast to the flavors of cassis, tobacco leaf, sassafras and leather. Finishes with supple tannins, a subtly sappy quality and very good length.

Tasted at BI Wine & Spirits' 10-Years-On tasting, the 2007 Les Forts de Latour has a fully mature bouquet with melted tar, graphite and black fruit scents, with a touch of tobacco in the background. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannin, a little chewy, with white pepper and a tobacco-stained finish that is very classic and unapologetically conservative in style. This is probably at its peak now, although it has the body to suggest it will hold in there for several years. Tasted February 2017.

Bright bricky ruby. Fragrantly mature. Subtle undergrowth. Meaty and dark and perhaps a little bit worked on the palate. But the tannins are resolved and the dark fruit has a nice savoury quality. Persistent too. Just slightly tough on the finish but would be fine with food. (JH)