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  • Country ranking ?

    1 143
  • Producer ranking ?

    60
  • Decanting time

    2h
  • When to drink

    now to 2025
  • Food Pairing

    rib Eye Steaks with Demi-Glace and White Bean Purée

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Nose offers very recognizable aromas of beeswax and caramel. On the palate the wine is rich and fairly concentrated, with smooth well-integrated tannins. A great success for the year.

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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

The budbreak was quite late due to the cool spring: 12 April in the Médoc. Then May was sunny and warm and growth was able to catch up. Flowering is recorded as starting on 1 June. A cold, damp period then followed, resulting in flower abortion and uneven grape size, reducing the forecasted harvest by almost half. July was sunny and sometimes very hot, with a few thunderstorms. Temperatures remained moderate in August. September started well but then temperatures fell with heavy thunderstorms and some hail. However, the harvests took place in excellent conditions from 30 September to 15 October. The musts presented superb sugar levels (sometimes higher than in 1970!) and high levels of acidity.

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Vintage 1971

Bordeaux: 1971 was a very good vintage, the only fault of which was being overshadowed by the exceptional 1970 vintage. The size of the 1971 vintage harvest was very small, which made the wines a rarity. Well-stored examples of wine are likely to remain mature for a few more years. Sauternes and Barsac: Sweet wines such as Sauternes and Barsac have been exceptional this year and will last for many decades to come.

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Tasting note

color

Full, Ruby red and Clear

ending

Medium, Extensive and Spicy

nose

Generous, Modest, Seductive and Wide

recommend

Yes

taste

High tannin, Balanced, Complex, Well-structured, Full-bodied, Focused, Full and Firm

Verdict

Transparent and Intelligent

Written Notes

We took a trip back in time with a flight of four older wines, beginning with the1971 Latour. The ’71 was very bready with a pinch of pungency to the nose. It was also nutty and had nice fruit aromas of cassis and blueberry. The palate was rich and lush, a touch gamy and deliciously grapy, delivering a great drink of mature claret
  • 94p

Latour– very complex, refined and sophisticated, still young and virile. Great depth and length. Strong backbone. Excellent effort. 94p.

  • 94p

Ruby, brick rim, dusty, intense and tight at first. Needed half an hour to show fruit, cassis and plums, even prunes later on. Tight knit texture as well, OK acidity, like the Mouton lower than one would think, but nicely balanced to the body, towards hard tannins, good length. 90

  • 90p
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Information

Origin

Pauillac, Bordeaux
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