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  • Country ranking ?

    948
  • Producer ranking ?

    48
  • Decanting time

    2h
  • When to drink

    now to 2030
  • Food Pairing

    Duck Breast & Lentil and Parsnip Salad

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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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

1962
The weather conditions

Winter was normal. January was cold with frosts. Same thing in February . March tended to be cold with frequent frosts too. It was indeed, very cold for March. April : cold and rainy for the first two weeks, warm and damp the second. Development was three weeks late. The first half of June was fine, the second half was very warm with almost tropical weather. The first flowers appeared on 10 June ; benefiting from the beautiful weather, flowering developed very fast. Growth was very luxuriant. It appeared to be a very fine crop and we were hoping for a very plentiful year. The retarded growth had pretty much caught up with itself. July was fine and dry with a heatwave on the 24th. The vegetation was beginning to suffer from the lack of rain but the grapes remained healthy and very promising. August was fine, hot and dry with a fairly frequent east wind. Ripening was slow because of the drought and was running behind schedule. September was hot and dry too. Some substantial showers on the 3rd and 7th, as well as on the 25th to 28th.This worked liked a miracle that was going to give us a good harvest. The first ten days of October were fine and hot, with some much-needed rain on the 11th and 12th , followed by fresh weather. We harvested from 1-20 October. It was a good yield and the fermentations were normal.

Vintage quality and tasting comments

The first tastings were very encouraging. Rich wines with a hint of acidity on the palate which augured well - the style of 1953 was already evident with more vinosity from the outset. As for its quality, it was a faithful and serious wine which has never achieved the fame it deserved because it has always lived in the giant shadow of the 1961s. Today (2000) the wines have a toffee nose and are still full, concentrated, smooth but vigorous in the mouth, with a good fruit well kept by acidity.

Quality: Great year

The moment for optimal drinking and best way of serving

The wines are now (2000) reaching maturity but will age another 10 years without any problem.
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, keep in the decanter for at least 1 hour for aeration and serve.

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Vintage 1962

Bordeaux Vintage Report by Tb / Although 1962 was also a fabulous year, it fell irretrievably into the shadow of 1961. The cold winter, with its biting frosts, ensured that the vines would get a much-needed rest after their hard work in 1961. The growing season started three weeks late. When the vines finally germinated in mid-June, the weather improved. Toward autumn, the weather warmed up measurably, with the resulting dryness eventually having a negative impact on the vines. The few abundant harvests of September came just in time to rescue the grapes from withering on the vine. The harvest, which brought in the largest crop of the 1950s and 1960s, did not begin until 1 October. Few believed that the vintage would be as good as it became. An excellent vintage for dry whites, reds and Sauternes. Where Sauternes are concerned, the 1962 was a considerably better year than the 1961. The best reds were the Cheval Blanc, Pétrus and Mouton-Rothschild. A common characteristic of the finest 1962 wines today is their serene, balanced aspect. Only a few show any real body and complexity, but they work well especially as dinner wines, also due to their excellent availability and affordable price. Even the finest wines should not be decanted for more than an hour.

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Average Bottle Price

2022 2020 2018 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2010 2005 2000
1 150€ +18.6% 970€ +9.0% 890€ +38.6% 642€ +1.4% 633€ +0.3% 631€ -7.5% 682€ +2.7% 664€ +12.5% 590€ +72.5% 342€ +19.2% 287€

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.

Latest Pro-tasting notes

18 tasting notes

Tasting note

color

Deep

ending

Medium

flavors

Mint and Chocolate

nose

Intense

recommend

Yes

taste

Perfectly balanced, Well-structured, Elegant, Fruity and Vigor

Written Notes

There was a bonus wine in this flight, just for the heck of it, and the wine was fairly rich, tasty and smooth, yet more one-dimensional on the palate after the .59 Lafite. The1962 Latour had a good finish, but its flavors were on the gravelly and earthy side
  • 90p

Ruby, brick rim. Cassis, blueberries, dates, figs, some tobacco, nuanced, layered, complex and detailed nose. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, red fruits, anise, bright and detailed, nuanced and layered, long and just goes on and on. Stunning wine. So elegant. 96

  • 96p

This bottle was good, but sadly, not great. Better on the nose, with its tobacco, cigar box, herbs, forest floor, cedar chest and cherry notes than on the palate, which was starting to fade. Other bottles have been better. Regardless, tasting Latour with more than 50 years of age is always a treat. 93 Points

  • 93p

Latour 1962 had not the same fine characteristics as Mouton Rothschild 1962 (same flight), was coarser on the palate and seemed older on the nose. Maybe not the best bottle of it we tasted here. First time I tasted this vintage. 91-92p

  • 92p

The first tastings were promising: rich wines with a hint of acidity on the palate (very similar to the 1953, with a little more vinosity at the start). This is a serious wine that has kept its promises, but never gained the reputation it deserved, as it has always been in the shadow of the 61. The bouquet presents aromas of caramel; lots of substance; concentrated, supple yet vigorous, with fruit supported by good acidity.

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Information

Origin

Pauillac, Bordeaux

Vintage Quality

Excellent

Value For Money

Very good

Investment potential

No Potential

Fake factory

None

Drinking temperature

16
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