Château Latour 1961

That's not a wine, that's 1961 Latour, which means this is in a class all by itself. The wine is incredibly powerful, dense, and intense. There is so much concentration here, your palate is coated with its layers of rocks, stones, gravel, spice, earth, and chewy, red fruits. There is a refined quality to the waves of black and red currants that you cannot find in other wines. The finish starts strong and amazingly, it builds, expands and adds complexities as it lingers, long after the wine has left the glass. 100 Points

Latour 1961 was, as expected, a monumental wine. Sixty years old wine and not ready yet. Still young and vigorous. Oceans of fruit and tannin perfectly supported by underlying acidity.  Enormous potential! 99-100p.

Full red, with a hint of amber; I've had bottles of this that are still ruby. Ineffable aromas of game, smoky oak, herbs and vanilla, with a distinctly wild quality. Extremely powerful and structured, with bracing acidity giving it great grip and buns of steel. Still very tight and young, but less thick than the last bottle I tasted of this wine, which I scored 100 points. Finishes very long and firm. This is one of the Bordeaux monuments of the century, along with wines like the '61 and '47 Latour a Pomerol and the '47 and '21 Cheval Blanc. Drink now to 2030.

The 1961 Latour is served blind against the Palmer and it comes off second best on this occasion. But that should not take anything away from a quite stupendous Pauillac. Intense black fruit laced with graphite and crushed stone, it is deeply impressive but perhaps lacks a warm personality compared to the Margaux. The palate is medium-bodied with intense black fruit laced with graphite and tobacco, gradually building in the glass towards its structure and persistent finish. Layers of black fruit coat the mouth and there is a slight trace of seaweed, Japanese nori, on the aftertaste. Magnificent. Tasted at the 1961 dinner Chairman Miaow’s in Hong Kong.

Tastings after running-off suggested a great wine. It was clean-tasting, brightly coloured, very rich, very ripe, very roasted and very full-bodied. Such colours had not been seen for a long time. In the mouth it is phenomenal, full of fruit, structured, incredibly concentrated and perfectly balanced. The tannins are very present, but without being aggressive. Very long finish. It has barely reached its peak and will improve further.

Initially there was some mustiness on the nose, which happily blew off. It initially slightly clouded the palate as well, and we were on tenterhooks, until the ineffable brilliance of the wine emerged. It was a few points off from the heights of its magisterial brilliance, but we received most of its treasure. You had game, dark fruit, herbs, a touch of vanilla once the bouquet cleared. The acidity is still bracing, there is such lovely grip, the tannins are so nicely framing, and you get enticing notes of coconut on the mid palate. The haunting mouth perfume with some chalkiness emerges next with some blackberries. There is such extraordinary structure here while remaining overall a monument to elegance, with such thrilling precision on the pure, elegant, refined, blueberry tinged finish. 98 Points+

Château Larour 1961 / 98 points / A great chance to try a legendary wine. This bottle came from Hugh Johnson’s cellar, and it’s the most expensive wine on sampling at £175 a pour. It is still amazingly youthful looking and has a taut, perfumed nose of herbs, blackcurrant and spice. The palate is actually youthful, with spicy mineral notes and good acidity under the blackcurranty fruit. Fine, elegant and structured, this wine has real precision and focus, and isn’t yet fully mature. A remarkable experience: if I’d tasted it blind I would have said with was from the 1980s or 1990s. 98/100

This is a great bottle of Latour; this vintage, 1961, has a lot of bottle variation. This bottle is one of the best I have tasted with sweet, dried fruits and tobacco and aged cigar notes in the finish. Fruit has richness even after 50 years in bottle

A great wine, with a sensual texture, minute-long length with mineral, salty aspects.  Elegant yet powerfol aromas on the nose, remembering of old wood (like in old mahogany furniture). Again perfect balance.