Tasting Note:
Wow. Our wine of the vintage, Latour 2009 is a real tour de force, an exceptional wine, which must rank as one of the greats from this estate and one of the greatest wines ever produced. An extraordinarily complex nose; kaleidoscopically beautiful and impressive. A veritable smorgasbord of aromas such as cut violets, crushed minerals, liquorice, tar and cherry blossom. It possesses extraordinary depth and power. Pure, silky, multidimensional fruit delights the palate. This has astonishing length and complexity. Restrained, supreme, velvety textured, a wonderful balancing act of power and finesse. What is so remarkable about this wine is not the extraordinary array of aromas and flavours, or the impeccable balance, or the outrageous concentration, but the structure. The tannins are honed from granite, that it to say, they are solid, built for an eternity, yet rounded and smooth. A wonderfully complex, mineral Latour that exudes class and breed; exceptional. An enormous 91.3% of the blend is Cabernet Sauvignon with just 8.7% Merlot. This is like Wagner in a bottle.
"A blend of 91.3% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8.7% Merlot with just under 14% natural alcohol, the 2009 Latour is basically a clone of the super 2003, only more structured and potentially more massive and long lived. An elixir of momentous proportions, it boasts a dense purple color as well as an extraordinarily flamboyant bouquet of black fruits, graphite, crushed rocks, subtle oak and a notion of wet steel. It hits the palate with a thundering concoction of thick, juicy blue and black fruits, lead pencil shavings and a chalky minerality. Full-bodied, but very fresh with a finish that lasts over a minute, this is one of the most remarkable young wines I have ever tasted. Will it last one-hundred years? No doubt about it. Can it be drunk in a decade? For sure.
Proprietor Francois Pinault and his director, Frederic Engerer, have pulled out all the stops to produce one of the most monumental Latour’s ever made." 100/100 Robert Parker, Wine Advocate #199