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  • Country ranking ?

    1 707
  • Producer ranking ?

    115
  • Decanting time

    45min
  • When to drink

    now - 2025
  • Food Pairing

    Roast lamb served medium-rare

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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 wine. The proximity to the estuary actually gives a slightly higher temperature, helping the grapes to good maturity. The Enclos is around 45 hectares out of a total of 88 for the whole estate.

The grape varieties are 75 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 23 % Merlot, 1 % Cabernet Franc and 1 % of Petit Verdot. The planting density is high, 10,000 vines per hectare. Every year the chateau’s viticulturist replaces a certain number of dead vines. These young vines are marked and treated separately. They are harvested separately and they are not used in the grand vin until they are at least 10 years old.

The Enclos is under conversion to organic farming since 2015. It takes three years to be certified so it means that we will see the first organic Château Latour in 2018. Only copper and sulfur, mixed with different plant infusions, are used to fight diseases in the vineyard. Instead of insecticides they use sexual confusion. Only organic fertilizers are used when needed and no herbicides.

The barrel aging starts in December. Château Latour is put in 100 % new oak from the Allier and Nièvre forest in the central part of France. The chateau works with 11 different coopers. This is important to the winemaker as the coopers all have different styles.

 

The wine spends six months in the first year cellar where it will also undergo the malolactic fermentation. The barrels are tasted regularly and the winemaker decides the blend for the grand vin, the second wine and the third wine. He decides if the press wine should be included or not. The wine is then moved to the huge and magnificent second-year cellar where it will spend 10-13 months, so in total around 22 months of aging before it is bottled. 2014 was bottled in June this year. During the barrel aging the wine is racked and topped up regularly, every 3 months. At the end, the wine is fined traditionally with egg whites, 5-6 whites per barrel.

Château Latour is often a textbook example of a Cabernet Sauvignon. No wonder, as often almost 90 % of the wine is made from this grape. It is a powerful wine in its youth, with aromas of cedar wood and black fruit, made even more powerful with the aging in 100 % new oak barrels. It is packed with fruit and tannins and it stays young for at least 10 years. This is a wine you really should wait for, say 10-15 year or longer. It needs time to show what it is capable of.

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Wine Information

1968
The weather conditions

Winter was wet and mild. Growth started on 30 March. Early April was cold with frequent morning frosts and even snow on the 6th. The second half of April was fine and the vine grew rapidly. Despite fairly moderate weather in May, the vegetation appeared to be developing at the normal pace. The first flowers were seen on 1 June. Thick fogs in the second week of June caused an important flower abortion. July was, for the most part, hot with frequent storms : wet, almost tropical weather and the vegetation was luxuriant. The grapes started to ripen on 27 July. August was unusually rainy and cool and development was delayed. The soil was waterlogged, with the threat of rot. Since September brought no improvement, many of the grapes did not ripen well and were attacked by rot. Vintage from 26 September to 12 October. The musts had poor sugar levels, high acidity and weak color.

Vintage quality and tasting comments

This is one of the three minor vintages of the 1960s, albeit better than 1963 and 1965. Sweet caramel nose, round mouth without any dryness, although a little short.

Quality: Mediocre year

The moment for optimal drinking and best way of serving

The wine has already declined and is more to be drunk as a " curiosity ".
Keep the bottle vertical at least half a day to settle the sediments at the bottom of the bottle. Then slowly pour the wine into a decanter in order to get rid of these sediments and serve.

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Latest Pro-tasting notes

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Written Notes

968 is one of the lesser vintages of the decade with 1963 and 1965. Bouquet of caramel, full-bodied on the palate with no dryness, although a little short.

The brick red colour suggests a quite ripe wine, which is confirmed by the nose. The initially slightly balmy spicyness, hints of dark chocolate, coffee and mild spices changes fast towards a more oxidative direcktion. On the palate this trend holds on, however the excellent structure of the wine is still impressing. The taste is more convincing than the nose.
  • 92p
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Information

Origin

Pauillac, Bordeaux

Vintage Quality

Below Average

Value For Money

Poor

Investment potential

No Potential

Fake factory

None
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