Les Forts de Latour, Pauillac,

This is the kind of vintage where you just know Forts de Latour is going to hit it out of the park, and I would be happy to recommend choosing this 2nd wine over many main estate wines in less impressive vintages. It's restrained, nuanced, keeping plenty in reserve, but the texture is rippled, by turns slate then velvet, slowing everything down through the palate. This was the first year of 100% conversion into organic viticulture, not just within the walled L'Enclos but across the entire estate, with official certification in 2018. Where the 2017 Pauillac de Latour (also released now) is all nuance and delicacy, the 2016 Forts is built, muscular, but full of precision, with deft strokes to define the tannins. A wine you will be thrilled to share - and one that has really grown into itself since being tasted En Primeur, underlining perhaps the benefit of a late release. 50% new oak. 37.5% of overall production.

A blend of 64.3% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35.3% Merlot, and 0.4% Cabernet Franc, the 2016 Les Forts de Latour is deep garnet-purple in color. It is just a touch closed to begin, soon unfurling to deliver wonderfully pure, ripe blackcurrants and juicy plums scents, followed by suggestions of candied violets and cardamom with a waft of crushed rocks. The medium-bodied palate has a rock-solid frame of grainy tannins with fantastic tension and a core of tightly wound black fruits, finishing long and earthy.

The 2016 Les Forts de Latour has a gorgeous bouquet, extremely pure and floral, veins of blue fruit, cassis permeating the blackberry fruit. The palate is beautifully balanced, again, very saline and a little spicier than I expected. There is a veneer of black fruit that makes it seem quite approachable, yet the tannins and backbone are there behind it. This is a superb Les Forts de Latour. Frédéric Engerer opined that it will drink in two or three years, though its substance and complexity suggests that those with the wherewithal to cellar this Les Fort will be amply rewarded.