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  • Country ranking ?

    1 123
  • Producer ranking ?

    56
  • Decanting time

    2h
  • When to drink

    2020-2035
  • Food Pairing

    Beef

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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

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. Consequently, the average degree for the Merlots is of 13.5°, which was unexpected three weeks ago.

Once again, nature was very “moody” this vintage year at Chateau Latour. After a rather warm and dry winter, there was a lack of rain right at the beginning of the vegetative cycle, and expression of hydric stress was noticed on nearly all of the areas of the estate. Fortunately, the rainfall was brought back to a normal level in May, which enabled the vine to develop fully, setting off the flowering, which took place in exceptional weather conditions: heat, clear weather with light winds.

Within a week, all of the bunches had completed this important stage, which determines a good harvest and great consistency of ripening at Chateau Latour. By counting the bunches on all the plots of the estate, we were able to rapidly estimate that the yield would be of a good level (similar to that of 2000). Drought came back in June, depriving the vineyard from 50mm of water, the average of the last thirty years. As a result, the berries at Chateau Latour began to grow slowly. The first ten days of July were rainy, but was followed by warm and sunny weather until the end of the month. This warm and dry climate allowed the “veraison” to begin from July 20, and we presumed at Chateau Latour a normal harvest date for the region.

August was, at Chateau Latour much more inconsistent, when the sun often gave way to the rain. In fact, the quantity of rainfall which slowed down the ripening process is not of real importance as the vine had suffered since the beginning of its cycle; but it was more a question of the number of days without sun. Cool temperatures for the season, at Chateau Latour made the “veraison” longer, especially on the sandy plots.

Almost miraculously, at Chateau Latour, the weather which failed to appear in August arrived from the beginning of September. Beautiful cloudless days with some easterly wind, perfect for the ripening of the grapes, rapidly favoured the production of sugar in the berries. The range of temperatures in the day and in the night, at Chateau Latour also softened the grape skins and offered great flavour to the tannins.

As usual, at Chateau Latour, the difference in maturity between the Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignons was important this year. However, our aim is to harvest the first when it has reached its peak in fruitiness and to preserve all its freshness. The seeds are tasty and dense with a fine tannic structure. The first tastings of the Cabernet Sauvignon berries, at Chateau Latour, lead us to believe that a good potential is on its way. However, we are patient a Chateau Latour is very promising.


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Latest Pro-tasting notes

13 tasting notes

Tasting note

color

Deep and Ruby red

ending

Long

nose

Refined

taste

Average in Acidity, High alcohol content, Medium tannin, Perfectly balanced, Balanced, Well-structured and Perfumed

Verdict

Outstanding and Excellent

Written Notes

Back to the main event…our evening of Latour started with the 2004 Latour, which had a sweet, sexy nose, ripe with its cassis and carob and framed by nut, pencil and cedar. Its fruit dominated at this young stage, and hints of lilac, lavender and jasmine were present. In the mouth, the wine was round, supple and soft, very shut down at the moment, especially when compared to the nose. It was not giving a lot, and G-man found that it had ‘too much pencil and was missing some legs.’ Engerer commented how ‘Cabernet doesn’t need heat, it needs light’
  • 92p

Consistent notes. Dense, deep red color. Thick aroma of cherries and chocolate, tight, refined, rich and splendidly balanced. Long finish. Wonderful quality.

  • 96p
Ruby, cassis, elegant and still powerful Pauillac. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, structured and refined texture, lively, elegant and complex flavours, long. Needs time.
  • 94p
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Information

Origin

Pauillac, Bordeaux
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