The 2016 Latour is a blend of 92.9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7.1% Merlot. Deep garnet-purple in color, it gives nothing away for the first few moments of swirling, then begins to offer suggestions of freshly crushed blackcurrants and blackberries, followed by suggestions of lilacs, charcoal, iron ore, and black truffles, plus wafts of fragrant soil and garrigue. The medium-bodied palate is like an atomic bomb waiting to go off, taut with tightly wound black fruits and mineral layers, supported by firm, super-ripe, grainy tannins, finishing on an epically persistent ferrous note.
A muscular Latour with a vibrant depth of fruit and power. Superb length and polish. Full-bodied, tight and closed. Fine-grained tannins and bright acidity. Steely and edgy. Strong, regal wine.
The 2016 blend is 92.9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7.1% Merlot, with an IPT of 83. It represents 36% of the overall production. At this stage, you are almost as aware of how much is being held back as how much is being revealed. The power in reserve is thrilling, even more so because although there is a lightness and florality running through the palate, it sacrifices none of the Latour signature. This is more 2005 then 2010 in expression, a beautiful wine with an amazing style that has the length and texture of the great vintages, freshened up by exceptional salinity on the finish. Fine, fine tannins, crushed tobacco and mint leaves, a momentum that is unmissable and more 'Latour' than the 2015 was at this stage. Hélène Génin is both estate manager and co-technical director, with Vincent Masson (son of Pierre Masson) as biodynamic consultant. This vintage is 50% biodynamic for the grand vin (entirely organic), but from 2017 that is being extended to 100%. My guess is that we should expect to wait eight or so years before they put this on the market.
Tasted blind. Heady and sweet with very ripe black-fruit flavours on the nose. Very rich and sweet with massive appeal but maybe just one notch too ripe?? New style!
Drink 2027 – 2045
All three releases from Château Latour are brilliant. Starting with the grand vin, the 2016 Château Latour is blend of 93% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Merlot that represents just 36% of the total production. This tour de force has stunning, classic Pauillac notes of crème de cassis, crushed violets, freshly sharpened lead pencils, and graphite. These give way to a full-bodied, massively concentrated effort that has the austerity, regalness, and stature that puts the hallmark of this incredible estate front and center. With medium to full body, beautiful elegance, and a seamless texture, it’s backward and closed on the palate and in need of a decade or more of cellaring. It should be one of the longest-lived wines in the vintage. Drink 2027-2102.
Black fruits the nose has brooding richness the palate depth with black cherry and cassis backed by dark chocolate and liquorice. There is mid freshness balance the tannins integrated discreet but supporting. Depth of the fruit at the back the rich fruit gives way to freshness the finish is remarkably light and elegant. 2028-50
Regular readers will know that I don’t scatter 100 point scores like confetti, but this is worth every one of them and is the wine of the vintage. Violet, green herb and blueberry notes are framed by sensuous tannins, deftly integrated new oak and a finish that lasts for a minute or more. A stunning wine. 2030-45
Château Latour’s 2016 grand vin is a knockout—perfectly encapsulating the estate’s paradoxical signature of at once possessing jaw-dropping power with hauntingly gorgeous fragrance and finesse: Bordeaux’s iron fist in a velvet glove. Very deep purple-black in color, the nose of the 2016 Latour is quite closed to begin, slowly unfurling to reveal chocolate-covered cherries, licorice, red roses and violets with Indian spices, blueberry compote, blackcurrant cordial and cigar box plus wafts of pencil lead and iron ore. Medium to full-bodied, the mid-palate explodes with densely packed black fruits and tons of earth, mineral and spice accents, with a super ripe, fine-grained frame and seamless freshness, finishing very long and seductively perfumed. Drink 2025 - 2070.
The 2016 Latour is a blend of 92.9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7.1% Merlot (no Cabernet Franc of Petit Verdot this year). The IPT is 83 and the alcohol a modest 13.5%. It represents 36% of the total production of the estate. Wow... this is some nose. It contains brilliant delineation and an unbridled sense of mineralité and terroir expression. It is not powerful per se, quite succinct and perhaps more detailed than the 2005 Latour that I tasted alongside. The palate is medium-bodied and incredibly precise. You are overcome with the sense of a wine running like clockwork, like a Swiss watch--think Piaget. It is bestowed with astonishing length and yet there is a sense of weightlessness and precision that beckons you back for another sip. It is simply one of the best examples of Château Latour that I have tasted from barrel over the 20 years that I have been tasting at this address. Drink 2028 - 2070.
Very deep, dark colour. Strong minerals and balsam – also extremely ripe – and hugely Latour on the nose. Salty and rich but with amazingly round tannins . Spice and red pimento pepper. Sinews and muscles. Lovely whole. Massive tannin level but fine tuned. Much more finesse than traditional Latour.
Drink 2030-2055
