Les Forts de Latour, Pauillac
    Château Latour

    Les Forts de Latour, Pauillac,

    Destination

    vintage

    Les Forts de Latour, Pauillac, 1998

    Justerini & Brooks Tasting note
    Les Forts de Latour, Pauillac, 1998
    Maturity:
    Drink
    ABV:
    13%
    94/100
    Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux
    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.
    Date Reviewed:
    03/2022
    Drinking Window:
    2024 - 2034
    96/100
    Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Independent
    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.
    Date Reviewed:
    12/2022
    Drinking Window:
    2025 - 2050
    95/100
    Neal Martin, Vinous
    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.
    Date Reviewed:
    03/2022
    Drinking Window:
    2028 - 2050

    specifications

    country:
    France
    region:
    Bordeaux
    Appellation:
    Pauillac
    Producer:
    Château Latour
    style:
    Red
    Grape Variety:
    Cab Sauvignon Merlot
    Allergen Information:
    This product may contain sulphites. Full allergen information is available upon request, please call our Customer Relations Team on +44 (0)20 7484 6430.

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    Château Latour

    Château Latour

    This great and historic estate is rightly regarded as one of the preeminent properties in Bordeaux and one of the greatest wines of the world. Along with Lafite Rothschild and Mouton Rothschild, Latour completes the three First Growths of Pauillac. It has become synonymous with wines of gravitas, scale and tremendous aging potential.

    The last change of ownership occurred in 1993, when the billionaire, François Pinault returned this bastion of Bordeaux to French hands. He appointed the meticulous Frédéric Engerer as technical Director, and Latour has enjoyed a period of unparalleled success ever since. It’s a marriage of meticulous, perfectionist viticulture and wine-making and extraordinary terroir.

    The grand vin hails from the 47 Hectare “Grand Enclos”, the vineyards which surrounds the winery and abuts the Clos of Leoville Las Cases in St Julien to the south. The topsoil is made up of Gunzian gravel, brought to the area from the Pyrenees and the Massif Central during the Pleistocene with a subsoil of marl and clay above a deeper ridge of limestone. Cabernet Sauvignon is the dominant varietal (80%), with Merlot (18%) and Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot accounting for just 2% of plantings. The excellent second wine, Les Forts de Latour is arguably equal to notable Second Growths, however, demand from Asia ensures a luxury price tag... There is also a third wine, simply called “Pauillac”.

    Sadly, the Chateau’s board decided to remove Latour from the en primeur market. 2011 was the last vintage released as a future. The strategy to offer mature wines from their cellars is well established now, with a major release each March and a smaller proposal in September.

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