Chateau Latour tasting back to 1961 at 1800 East Las Olas

Gimme that wine (Gimme that wine)
I just can't get well without Muskatel

Gimme That wine by Blood, Sweat & Tears

Whenever I get a great bottle of wine like the 1961 Chateau Latour I am more interested in drinking it than selling it.  I know we just hosted a Chateau Latour Tasting back to 1959 a year ago but this bottle of 1961 Latour has been just begging me to open it so I figured why not do another Chateau Latour vertical to start out our "Once in a Lifetime" series of tastings in 2016.

Throughout the 1980's, 1990's and into the 21st century Château Latour has repeated with a succession of brilliantly executed wines; in vintages such as 1982, 1983, 1986, 1990, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2014 has been a leading candidate for "Wine of the Vintage".   Join us as we taste 10 vintages of this famous first growth going back to the legendary 1961 vintage.  This event is limited to 16 people and the fee for this dinner is $895 per person all-inclusive, for reservations call 954-523-9463 

Chateau Latour tasting back to 1961 at 1800 East Las Olas
Friday, January 22, 2016
7:00 PM

2005 Chateau Latour Pauillac
Price: $1800.00    Sale Price: $1499.00
Quantity in Stock: 5

(99 Points) Dark ruby black in color. Brilliant, intense aromas of mineral, blackberry and currant, with hints of Indian spices and cigar box, lead to a full-bodied palate, with ultrafine tannins and a beautiful balance of blackberry, raspberry and mineral. There's subtlety, yet also great depth. Lasts for minutes on the palate. This is a Latour with fabulous tone and vigor. Best after 2018. 12,500 cases made. “JS Wine Spectator Issue: Mar 31, 2008

2001 Les Forts De Latour Pauillac
Price: $299.00    Your Price: $239.20
Quantity in Stock: 4

(90 points) “Increasingly one of Bordeaux’s finest second wines, the lush 2001 Forts de Latour exhibits a personality similar to its bigger sibling. Its deep ruby/plum color is accompanied by aromas of smoke, earth, black currants, and notions of walnuts as well as spice box. Round and generous. (RP)” (6/2004) Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

2000 Chateau Latour Pauillac
Price: $1500.00    Sale Price: $995
Quantity in Stock: 3

(98 Points) There are only 14,000 cases (only 48% of the crop made it into the grand vin) of the 2000, which flirts with perfection. Truly great stuff, it reveals perfect equilibrium, great finesse, yet colossal size, with a thickness and density that rival the brilliant 1996. This saturated black ruby/purple colored wine seems almost discreet on first inspection, but with aeration, notes of vanilla, exceptionally pure, mineral infused creme de cassis, and earth emerge. Full-bodied and tannic, it should come close to representing perfection. Latours 2000 is hard to compare with previous vintages. It obviously does not have the opulence of the 1990 and 1982, yet there is an extraordinary purity, delineation, seamlessness, and freshness to this wine that sets it apart from previous vintages. In any event, it is prodigious, with at least five decades of evolution ahead of it. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2050. The Wine Advocate, Issue 146, April 2003

1999 Chateau Latour Pauillac
Price: $548.75    Your Price: $482.90
Quantity in Stock: 10

(94 Points) Readers looking for a modern day version of Latour's magnificent 1962 or 1971 should check out the sensational 1999 Latour. It is a big, concentrated offering, exhibiting a dense ruby/purple color, and a classic nose of minerals, black currants, leather, and vanilla. The wine is long, ripe, and medium-bodied, with high levels of sweet tannin. This surprisingly full, concentrated 1999 should be drinkable in 5-6 years; it will last for three decades. Wine Advocate #140 Apr 2002

1996 Chateau Latour Pauillac

(100 Points) Deep garnet-black in color, the 1996 is classic Latour at its utmost. The nose offers a tantalizing array of complex notes including dried Chinese plums, toasted nuts, Indian spices and black olive tapenade over a core of dried cherries and aged meat. The palate is pure power that is stunningly balanced giving a generous level of fruit concentration perfectly offset by a high level of very finely grained tannins and seamless freshness. Possessing a finish that just goes on and on, this is as good as it gets. The Wine Advocate, In Asia #1112, Nov 2012

1990 Chateau Latour Pauillac
Price: $1050.00    Your Price: $840.00
Quantity in Stock: 1

(95+ Points) This is one of the more perplexing Latours to evaluate. It has plenty of sweetness as well as a gorgeous, rich fruitiness, but it lacks the firmness one finds in more recent great vintages such as 1996, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2008. There is plenty of sweet, ripe currant fruitiness, abundant glycerin, and full body, but I’m still waiting for that extra nuance of complexity to emerge. It’s all there, but the wine still seems to be more monolithic than one would expect in a wine approaching 19 years of age. It is not the sure-fire winner I thought it was in its youth, but then again, I don’t have any reason to doubt that more complexity will emerge. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2035. Wine Advocate #183, Jun 2009

1989 Chateau Latour Pauillac

(89 Points) This wine was tasted at a vertical tasting held in Charlotte, North Carolina several days before the Christie tasting. The Latour staff spoke far more highly of the 1989 than my experience has shown.

It possesses many characteristics that make great vintages of Bordeaux so alluring - softness, overripeness, and sweet fruit. The problem is that there are insufficient quantities of these components.

An evolved dark ruby color reveals amber at the edge. The nose offers aromas of caramel, coffee, ripe black cherry and currant fruit, cedar, and spice box. Although medium-bodied, with low acidity, the wine lacks richness in the mid-palate, and is surprisingly abrupt in the finish. It is a very fine, delicious Latour, but it is hard to believe it will attain the weight and flavor dimensions its producers suggest. Anticipated maturity: now-2020. Wine Advocate #129, Jun 2000

1982 Chateau Latour Pauillac

(100 Points)  Always somewhat atypical (which I suspect will be the case with the more modern day 2003), the 1982 Latour has been the most opulent, flamboyant, and precocious of the northern Medocs, especially the St.-Juliens, Pauillacs, and St.-Estephes. It hasn’t changed much over the last 10-15 years, revealing sweet tannins as well as extraordinarily decadent, even extravagant levels of fruit, glycerin, and body. It is an amazing wine, and on several occasions, I have actually picked it as a right bank Pomerol because of the lushness and succulence of the cedary, blackberry, black currant fruit. This vintage has always tasted great, even in its youth, and revealed a precociousness that one does not associate with this Chateau. However, the 1982 is still evolving at a glacial pace. The concentration remains remarkable, and the wine is a full-bodied, exuberant, rich, classic Pauillac in its aromatic and flavor profiles. It’s just juiced up (similar to an athlete on steroids) and is all the better for it. This remarkable effort will last as long as the 1982 Mouton, but it has always been more approachable and decadently fruity. Drink it now, in 20 years, and in 50 years! Don’t miss it if you are a wine lover.  Wine Advocate #183, Jun 2009

1970 Chateau Latour Pauillac

(85 Points)  The aromas suggest this wine has peaked with dusty notes of old leather, dried figs and grandma’s room. The tannins have gone a little powdery with the medium+ level of acidity taking centre stage in front of the remaining bits of fruit. Medium to long finish. Perhaps slightly past it but still provides an interesting glass. Tasted January 2009.   The Wine Advocate, In Asia, May 2009

1961 Chateau Latour Pauillac
Price: $6000.00    Sale Price: $4500.00
Quantity in Stock: 2

(100 Poinits) Port-like, with an unctuous texture, and a dark garnet color with considerable amber at the edge, the 1961 Latour possesses a viscosity and thickness. One of the three bottles served at the Chateau's tasting revealed a surprisingly aggressive, minty, herbaceous nose, but the other two bottles were liquid perfection, exhibiting fragrant, cedary, truffle, leather, mineral, and sweet, jammy aromatics, full-bodied, voluptuous textures, exquisite purity and concentration, and a layered, highly-nuanced finish that represents the essence of compellingly great wine.

The 1961 has been fully mature for over 15 years, but it seems to get richer, holding onto its succulence and fat, and developing more aromatic nuances without losing any sweetness or concentration. An extraordinary wine, it is unquestionably one of the Bordeaux legends of the century! Anticipated maturity: now-2025 Wine Advocate #129, Jun 2000

Menu
Caviar Stuffed baby potatoes
Foie Gras Sushi with mango and pineapple
Salmon Tartar with mango and roasted red pepper aioli on black sesame Crisp
Selection of Cheese:  Beemster Gouda, Reggiano Parmesan
Beef Tartar ravioli with sundried tomato browned Butter
Seared Duck breast with Cassis Syrup over whipped buttermilk mash and fiddle fern
Dark Chocolate covered Bacon and berries

A bit about Chateau Latour:

Since the 14th century vines have been planted at Latour. Towards the end of the 17th century the estate came into the hands of the Segur family, the owners of Calon-Segur and Lafite.  The property was divided during the French Revolution and remained so until 1841 when the family regained control.  The estate remained in family hands for 120 years until 1963; then two English groups purchased 76% of the stock.  The famous tower on the label - La Tour -stands alone at the edge of the vineyard. The tower is all that is left of a fortress built during the middle ages and used to protect the local citizens of Pauillac against pirates.  The chateau on the property is a modest building and belies the majesty of its wines.

There are several factors which contribute to the greatness of Latour; one is the soil.  Of course, every vineyard owner will tell you how important his particular plot of soil is; but the importance of Latour's rests in its unique composition.  50% of it is gravel pebbles the size of eggs!!  The average age of vines at Latour is 33 years, and the vines are allowed to live to maximum age before being uprooted.  It is just this combination of stress placed by the gravelly soils and the old age of the vines which produce very low yield and high quality.  Cabernet Sauvignon accounts for about 75% of the vineyard.  In 1966 the chateau began to make a "second" wine, the Les Forts de Latour.  Les Forts is made from the property's young vines and from vines in what is considered the less desirable portion of the vineyard.  In price and quality it is now considered the equivalent of a second growth.  The wine has all the earmarks of a Latour but with less concentration.

The Latour vineyard covers around 78 hectares of the Pauillac appellation, of which 47 hectares surround the château, these being referred to as L'Enclos. This, the source of the grand vin, extends from the commune boundary with St Julien, where the vines meet its closest neighbor to the south Léoville Las-Cases separated by the Ruisseau de Juillac, which drains into the Gironde. There have been plots added over the 19th century under the control of the Ségur family, which include Comtesse de Lalande and Petit-Batailley, but rarely are they used for the grand vin.  The soil is technically Gunzian gravel, a surface layer just 60 - 100cm deep, beneath which is a subsoil of clay and marl up to 5m, past that is the limestone bedrock of Bordeaux. Cabernet Sauvignon accounts for 80% of the vines, the remainder Merlot (18%), which is planted wherever clay is prominent, then Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot together make up 2%.  The typical blend at Château Latour is 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, the balance Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc.  These percentages vary naturally according to the vintage conditions. There are approximately 18,000 cases of the grand vin produced each year. The next cuvée in the line-up is Les Forts de Latour, made for the first time in 1966, and typically 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot.  There are approximately 11,000 cases produced each year.  But perhaps the best value and defiinatly the hardest to find of the wines made at Latour is the simple Pauillac de Latour.  This stunningly good wine is based on fruit from younger vines outside L'Enclos. Introduced with the 1973 vintage, this cuvée was only made a few times after that in 1974 and 1987.  This wine became a permanent member of the line-up in 1990.

Masculine in a word best describes Latour.  The wines are full-bodied, firm, virile, and tannic.  Two years after the vintage the other great Pauillacs like Lafite and Mouton will usually show better than Latour, for Latour is rarely accessible at an early age.  However, as time passes, Latour will eventually outlast them and can be counted on to be alive and sound when the others are but a memory.  Any knowledgeable claret buyer knows that Latour is always the best bet at rare wine auctions.  Pre-1900 vintages of Latour have held up remarkably well.  Probably the most comprehensive report on all the vintages of Chateau Latour was published in The Underground WineLetter in February of 1984.  It was a summary of tasting notes over different occasions including the legendary vertical tasting of 86 vintages conducted in San Francisco in 1981.  Vintages as far  back as 1865 and 1870 were in impeccable condition; the 1870 received a perfect (20) score with the comment that it was possibly "the greatest red wine ever."  Over the years Chateau Latour has also been regarded by connoisseurs as being the most consistent property in Bordeaux.  According to David Peppercorn in his epic work, Bordeaux: "One of Latour's outstanding characteristics has always been that it is magnificent in poor and moderate years."  Perhaps other chateaux of the Medoc occasionally rise above Latour in the great years, but none of them have come close in the lesser ones.

The modern day era of Chateau Latour began in 1993 French billionaire François Pinault brought Latour into his ring of luxury business portfolio which was later augmented by Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Christie's auction house and Chateau Grillet.  Although the old vintages are stunning I can't think how good these new wines of Chateau Latour will be in 20-30 years from now.   Since Frederic Engerer has taken control of this estate in the late 1990’s Chateau Latour has been the single most consistent wine made in Bordeaux. 

Other Vintages of Chateau Latour available at Wine Watch

2004 Chateau Latour Pauillac (Magnum)
Price: $1325.00    Sale Price: $995.00
Quantity in Stock: 1

2004 Chateau Latour Pauillac
Price: $575.00    Sale Price: $495.00
Quantity in Stock: 2

(95 Points) A terrific effort from Administrator Frederic Engerer and owner Francois Pinault, the dark ruby/purple-tinged 2004 Latour exhibits a strong cassis character intermixed with notes of crushed rocks, earth, cedar, and forest floor. Racy, elegant, but powerful with medium to full body, and sweet tannin, it will benefit from 5-7 years of cellaring, and should keep for three decades. It is a very impressive offering. Wine Advocate #171, Jun 2007

1996 Chateau Latour Pauillac Magnum
Price: $2850.00    Sale Price: $1895.00
Quantity in Stock: 1

(99 Points) A spectacular Latour, the 1996 may be the modern day clone of the 1966, only riper. This vintage, which is so variable in Pomerol, St.-Emilion, and Graves, was fabulous for the late-harvested Cabernet Sauvignon of the northern Medoc because of splendid weather in late September and early October. An opaque purple color is followed by phenomenally sweet, pure aromas of cassis infused with subtle minerals. This massive offering possesses unreal levels of extract, full body, intensely ripe, but abundant tannin, and a finish that lasts for nearly a minute. Classic and dense, it displays the potential for 50-75 years of longevity. Although still an infant, it would be educational to taste a bottle. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2050. Wine Advocate #129 Jun 2000