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  • Country ranking ?

    278
  • Producer ranking ?

    20
  • Decanting time

    3h
  • When to drink

    now to 2050
  • Food Pairing

    Roast Leg of Lamb with Mint Pesto & Mustard Crumbs

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Château Latour is releasing the Grand Vin de Château Latour 2005 and Les Forts de Latour 2011.

 

For several years now we have been selecting wines from our cellars that we consider ready to drink. Whilst they can already be enjoyed by connoisseurs of the Estate, they also have excellent cellaring potential.

This year we have chosen to release the Grand Vin de Château Latour 2005 and Les Forts de Latour 2011.

2005 is a landmark yea...

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The Story

The chateau makes three different wines. The so-called grand vin, that is Château Latour itself, a second wine called Les Forts de Latour and a third wine simply called Pauillac. The grand vin comes from the original part of the vineyards, called the Enclos. This is the most prestigious part of the vineyard where the vines have a fine view of the Gironde estuary. The tradition in Bordeaux says that vines that overlook the water make the best w...

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Wine Information

Weather and phenological conditions at Château Latour - Pauillac - Vintage reports
At Chateau Latour, the harvest started on September 23 with the Merlots during five days. Then we picked the first Cabernet Sauvignon from October 6. Recent controls of maturity, carried out at the beginning of the week, confirmed the potential of this vintage at Chateau Latour and the excellent balance of the grapes in sugar, acid and phenolic elements. Conseq...

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Vintage 2005

Bordeaux Vintage Report 2005 is a truly fantastic vintage with great quality across the board on both the Left and Right Banks.

The 2005 vintage became the most expected since 2000. The en primeur market was heated, and prices skyrocketed. The cold winter delayed the bud break before the hot ans dunny spring broke up. Even vegetative growth and flowering gave a perfect start to the vintage. The summer turned out to be one of the driest ever...

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Average Bottle Price

2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010
755€ +12.9% 669€ -4.8% 703€ -5.6% 745€ -6.2% 794€ +0.6% 789€ -12.8% 905€ +3.0% 879€

This data comes from the FINE Auction Index, a composite of average prices for wines sold at commercial auctions in 20 countries. The average prices from each year have been collected since 1990. This chart plots the index value of the average price of the wines.

Latest Pro-tasting notes

14 tasting notes

Tasting note

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Written Notes

The 2005 Latour had the nose of the night. There was fantastic and undeniable breed here. ‘Nutty nutty, long long and dry dry’ were my first notes. It had enough length to last through double overtime, and the marriage between its signature cedar and walnut aromas and flavors said, ‘happily ever after’ (97+).
  • 97p

The 2005 Latour is nowhere near being ready to drink. For example, both the 2001 and 2002 were much more expressive when they were re-released a few years ago. The 2005, on the other hand is quite muted, especially in its aromatics. There is plenty of depth, power and overall persistence, but readers have to be prepared to cellar the 2005 for at least another few years. Its longevity, on the other hand, should not be an issue.

 

  • 96p

Black-red, big and spicy, almost New World ripeness, but none of the New World fat, all in length and balance, chalky tannins, firm and understated on the palate, a sense of 'hidden fruit', a wine of great beauty, the most modern, the most seductive Latour ever, while totally reflecting its terroir. Drink 2015-50.

  • 100p

This is a deep brooding vigorous wine with powerful black olive, blackcurrant and bitumen aromas. The palate is deeply concentrated and muscular with inky, blackcurrant and spice flavours, tightly-knit, grainy tannins and underlying savoury, cedary oak. The wine finishes chocolatey firm with long minerally notes. Another wine of the vintage contender, this is classic Latour with a profound sense of place and marvellous cellaring potential. Only 140,000 bottles made. Drink 2025-2040. 97-100 points

  • 100p

Dark garnet red colour. Expressive wine with excellent structure, balmy aroma, mild spices, vanilla, cardamom, hints of cinnamon and dark chocolate. Develops well with oxygen, hints of tobacco and cedar wood in the background. On the palate massive structure but extremely elegant, great length and depth, very complex and rich. Tannins are perfectly ripe, a hint of acidity adds freshness, a great treat! 99

  • 99p

Tasted four times - last time in November 2015. Consistent notes. When tasted in 2008, it had almost coal-black color, dense and with powerful nose of black cherries, blueberries and blackcurrants. Incredibly sophisticated and multidimensional on the palate with enormous load of super ripe berries and silky tannins, stunning balance and aromatic fruit of highest quality. Finished with an aftertaste, which lasted for about two minutes. It's already legendary and it's sure bet for 30-40 years of cellaring. A little bit less impresive when tasted 7 years later (2015).

  • 99p
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Information

Origin

Pauillac, Bordeaux

Vintage Quality

Outstanding

Value For Money

Very good

Investment potential

Good

Fake factory

None

Inside Information

Parker 98 points / The 2005 Latour (87% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot and Petit Verdot) is a spectacular effort from Château Latour. It has an inky plum/purple color and a gorgeous nose of graphite, crème de cassis, and floral notes with some forest floor in the background. It is full-bodied, super-concentrated, and for my taste, probably one of the two or three most intense, rich, and complex wines of the entire Médoc. The wine has great texture, purity and a finish of close to 40 or 45 seconds. The tannins are surprisingly sweet, even in this large-scaled, masculine wine. Drink it over the next 50+ years.

 

“A great wine, the summation of a great vintage in Bordeaux. The core of richness, the dense, bone-dry tannins, the black currants, red berries and black plum skins are the elements, but it’s the way they have been integrated that makes this such an impressive wine. There is great elegance as well, a fabulous counterpoint to such power. Cellar for at least 15 years, but this will keep forever.” -Wine Enthusiast (100 Points)

 

“A very complex nose of lavender, currants, spices, and hot stones. Full and dense on the palate, with a very tight structure. The tannins have a perfect polish to their density, and the finish is very intense, with wonderful fruit and truffle character. This turns almost decadent, with tremendous energy and a constantly changing profile. This is a very challenging wine to get to know, please leave this for at least ten years. Pull the cork in 2015.” -James Suckling (100 Points)

 

“How rare to confront a wine of this inner strength and perfect form. Grown at a 116-acre vineyard at the southern border of Pauillac, some of the vines now reaching 100 years of age on a gravel bar overlooking the Gironde, Latour harvests Cabernet Sauvignon with natural power. I could describe it as colors, from glistening ruby to purple-black then back to scarlet tannins that vibrate in red. Or just the pure, unadulterated flavor of black currant, unformed as a child is unformed, beautiful as a child is beautiful. However I might describe it, the wine is stronger than I am and will outlast me by decades. This is the most provocative and most brilliant Latour I have tasted on release.” -Wine & Spirits (100 Points)

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