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  • Country ranking ?

    803
  • Producer ranking ?

    35
  • Decanting time

    5h
  • When to drink

    from 2020
  • Food Pairing

    Pan-Fried Sole in Black Butter with Vegetable Skewers

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Winemaker NotesIn the glass, the crimson color of the wine is deep and intense. The nose is elegant, combining both floral and fruity notes. In the mouth, the wine reveals a suave and fleshy texture, yet remains delicate with much promise. The finale is powerful and complex. An incredibly lengthy and structured Chateau Latour.

Blend : 84.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 0.5% Petit Verdot

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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

Many have called this the best vineyard in the world and the dynamic Director of Chateau Latour, Frédéric Engerer, is determined to make the greatest wine possible. He has the confidence of owner, François Pinault, to do all that it takes to achieve this aim. Production levels have been slashed in recent vintages with only the best parcels of vines now producing grapes for the Grand Vin. Latour has always had a fantastic terro...

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Vintage 2011

The 2011 vintage is not easy to handle.

Smith Haut Lafitte not only makes great white and red wine from Bordeaux in Pessac Léognan, they are also at the cutting edge of technology. They were one of the first Bordeaux wine producers to begin using optical sorting, which came in handy with the difficult 2011 Bordeaux harvest. Fabien Teitgen, long-time general manager, joined us for a long detailed conversation about what happened at Smith Hau...

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Latest Pro-tasting notes

15 tasting notes

Tasting note

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Written Notes

The nose is complex, featuring smoke, meat and hints of wood, with currants, olives and berries underneath. Full body with super-velvety tannins. The strong acidity gives the wine an edginess. Love the spicy, subtly fruity finish. Steely

  • 95p

The wines reveal an intense, deep colour. The elegant nose has floral notes and on the palate it is very fruity and flavoursome with precise and noble tannins. The finale is elegant and mighty.

 

The winter was dry and cold. From March onwards, temperatures were much milder. Indeed, summer effectively began in April, with average monthly temperatures of more than 5°C above average and 83% less rain than seasonal norms. In June, rainfall was relatively frequent but light though the amount of sunshine and temperatures were normal for this period. However, a heatwave from June 26th to 27th, with temperatures exceeding 40°C, caused heat damage to the most exposed berries, especially the Cabernet-Sauvignon. The exceptional spring conditions produced an early budding which then accelerated as the soil warmed up very quickly. Unlike the spring, the summer was fairly cool with normal rainfall. September was hot and mainly dry.

The harvests started with the Merlot on the 12th of September then continued uninterrupted with the Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot until the 26th of September.

Concentrated Cabernet nose lifted by floral wild violets, the classic restrained firmness of Latour with intellectual more than sensual complexity to come. Drink 2018-2040

  • 95p

This wine was powerful and tight but at the same time refined and sophisticated. Exquisite depth, complexity, richness and balance. As always this is awesome stuff from this property.

  • 96p
Deep ruby, deep feel to the nose, complex, refined, massive nose, superbly structured, massive and layered, fresh acidity, ripe tannins, very long length. 96-99
  • 96p
Crafted from an assemblage of 84.5 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and .5% Petit Verdot, this vintage represents just 34% of the production. 3% press wine was added to the blend, which is half of what’s normally included in the assemblage. The estate continues its march towards biodynamic farming. At this point, 62 acres are farmed using biodynamic techniques. The eventual goal of Chateau Latour is to become completely biodynamic within a few years. - Dark ruby in color with purple accents at the rim, the perfume offers wet forest floor aromas, cassis, cedar wood, spice, earth and blackberry. Subtle, refined and elegant, this finesse style of Latour is long, clean and pure. Lacking the concentration of 2010 or 2009, this stylish Latour is long and filled with pure, spicy cassis in the fresh finish. 95-97 Pts
  • 96p
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Information

Origin

Pauillac, Bordeaux

Vintage Quality

Above Average

Value For Money

Poor

Investment potential

Good

Fake factory

None

Inside Information

A blend of 84.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and 0.5% Petit Verdot, the 2011 Latour represents only 34% of the crop. It hit 13.1% natural alcohol. One of the vintage-s most compelling wines, it possesses a dense ruby/purple color as well as a sweet, open-knit personality with ripe tannin, superb intensity, good purity and harmony, a medium to full-bodied mouthfeel, and lots of crushed rock, floral and black as well as blue fruit notes in addition to hints of ink and forest floor. This beautifully rich, savory Latour will be surprisingly drinkable in 4-5 years, and should age easily for two decades or more. By the way, Latour harvested relatively late for the Medoc, beginning the harvest on September 12 and finishing on September 26.

Score: 93/95 Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (200), April 2012
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