x
  • Country ranking ?

    227
  • Producer ranking ?

    18
  • Decanting time

    2h
  • When to drink

    now to 2035
  • Food Pairing

    Lamb Loin with Carrot Risotto

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

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Each year, Wine Spectator editors survey the wines reviewed over the previous 12 months and select our Top 100, based on quality, value, availability and excitement. This annual list honors successful wineries, regions and vintages around the world.

Château Latour 1990 was the Wine of the Year in 1993

Like a Michelangelo; everything is in perfect proportion. Has an amazing amount of violets, new wood and fruit on the nose and palate and ...

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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

A particularly warm winter resulted in a very early budbreak, on 1 March for the Merlot. A variable spring slightly delayed this advance, but mid-flowering was recorded on 25 May, 15 days ahead of normal. Early July, the vineyard's crop was rigorously checked with the traditional "green harvests". The whole summer was very dry, which severely affected the vines. Due to the underground layers of clay in the "Enclos", the grapes were able to rip...

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Vintage 1990

An early, even flowering, a warm but unspectacular summer and an exceptionally hot period during the end of August and the first half of September. It was this heat that made it possible for the record harvest to not only to fully ripen, but also to concentrate the fruit.  The harvest started on September 14 and was finished before heavy rains commenced on October 2. Another reason for the success of the vintage was that most châteaux had inve...

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Average Bottle Price

2022 2020 2018 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2005 2000 1995
911€ +11.8% 815€ +12.9% 722€ +3.4% 698€ +15.6% 604€ -13.6% 699€ +6.4% 657€ -6.3% 701€ -13.6% 811€ +15.5% 702€ +82.3% 385€ +58.4% 243€ +56.8% 155€

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.

Tasting note

color

Full

ending

Endless and Spicy

flavors

Blackberry, Cedar, Blackcurrant, Licorice, Cherry and Voluptuous

nose

Complex

recommend

Yes

taste

Low in Acidity, Warming, Low tannin, Complex, Balanced, Well-structured, Youthful, Full-bodied, Firm, Ripe and Elegant

Verdict

Outstanding and Excellent

Written Notes

The 1990 Latour and 1982 Margaux were two of my wines of the night. I have always loved the openness and sweet, giving personality of the ’90 Latour, which is atypically not brooding. This penguin left the glacier a long time ago, but the ’90 shows no sign of early advancement either. It is just one of those wines that has always been delicious, as long as I can remember. The Margaux has always been underrated and overlooked when it comes to 1982. This bottle reaffirmed its status amongst the elite wines of the vintage. The last major retrospective of 1982s that I did, which was in 2007 and blind with twenty other tasters, had Margaux emerge on top, for those of you that forgot or weren’t around then.

  • 97p

Tasted in May 2013. This wine showed perfectly ripe fruit, truffles, incredibly concentrated, very strong structure, sophisticated, extremely long on the palate. Riveting elegance and finesse.

  • 96p
Ruby. Cassis, leather, tobacco, intense and tight nose. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, intense, detailed, rich, fruity, layered, nuanced, superb balance, very long. 97
  • 97p
Intense, ruby colour.rich, chocolatey nose with mocha. Medium-bodied, energetic and firm palate, supple tannins and upfronted black fruit. Powerful. Decant for 5 hours. Ready to open 2020, but will reach its peak in 2030-2040.
  • 93p
Château Latour 1990 Open and maturing nose with dark cherry and cassis fruit, mushrooms, truffle, gravel dust, leather, raw meat and a perfumed rose like floral note around hints of herbs and mint. Full bodied and very powerful palate with a sweet core of dark cherry and cassis fruit, mint, leather, vanilla and mushrooms. Silky sweet tannins. Superbly balanced albeit in a big style. Very long but still far to young. Drink 2018-2040 95p
  • 95p
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Information

Origin

Pauillac, Bordeaux

Vintage Quality

Outstanding

Value For Money

Very good

Investment potential

Good

Fake factory

None

Glass time

2h

Drinking temperature

16

Inside Information

Château Latour’s long and noble history is summarized graphically on every bottle. The label shows the domaine’s famous tower, a symbol of the château's importance to regional politics and defense as early as the 14th century. And as one of the original four First Growth Bordeaux, the estate has become even more significant in the last 200 years as the producer of one of the world’s most legendary wines. Robert M. Parker Jr. has noted that the wine produced at Château Latour “has been an impeccable model of consistent excellence in great, mediocre and poor vintages.” After passing to British ownership from 1963 to 1993, the château was purchased in 1993 by Francois Pinault, one of France’s most successful businessmen and entrepreneurs. Vineyards total 163 acres, with 75% planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% to Cabernet Franc, 20% to Merlot, and 1% Petit Verdot. The average age of the vines is 60 years. The chateau produces 180,000 bottles of Château Latour annually.

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