This looks fully mature with a lot of brown leadinng to a slightly watery rim. There is a mature nose of old Bordeaux with more than a hint of mushrooms and undergrowth. On the palate there is an initial sweetness but this leads to a pretty firm, dry finish. Typically 1975 in style (although one of the best Medocs that I have tried) the final taste is the toughest and it leaves the palate feeling dry. Austere and will not improve.
The dark ruby/garnet-colored 1975 Latour offers up a dry, mineral, tobacco, stony-scented nose with red and black currants competing with cedar, spice box, and balsam wood aromas. Hard and dense in the mouth, with tough, astringent tannin, a steely constitution, plenty of concentration, but an unflattering, backward style, this youthful 1975 is capable of lasting two more decades. Will it become increasingly attenuated and hard? Anticipated maturity: now-2020.
The Latour 1975 appears to be one of the few sure bets among the relatively hard, disappointing 1975 Pauillacs. The color remains a healthy dark ruby, opaque garnet. The nose offers up classic walnut, cedar, minerals, tobacco, and cassis aromas. Although this full-bodied wine is still excruciatingly tannic, I detected plenty of glycerin, extract, and richness, which gives me cause for optimism. Nevertheless, it will always be a wine with a firm, tannic edge. Drinkable if decanted several hours in advance, this wine should be cellared until the turn of the century and drunk during the following 3 decades.
