Critic Review
Cellar Favorite: Château Latour 2025 Late Releases (Feb 2025)
The 2016 Latour is a vintage that I have tasted a couple of times post-bottling. On one occasion, it warranted a perfect score, but that was then moot since this vintage had not been released. Now that it is due to hit the shelves this coming March, does the wine still merit that three-digit accolade? Without question, yes. Deep lucid deep purple in color, it seems to shimmer in the glass. The bouquet plays with you, a bit of a femme fatale, distant for the first few minutes during which I chatted with the superstar of this First Growth, winemaker Hélène Genin. Then, it magically coalesces and gains incredible intensity with blackberry, pencil lead, background hints of oyster shell and notes of Japanese wakame. The aromatics announce exactly which château you are doing business with. The palate is medium-bodied with filigree tannins, again, as I found before, blessed with beguiling symmetry and ineffable poise. Residing firmly on the black side of the fruit spectrum, there is underlying mineralité. Veins of cassis run through the persistent finish. This is everything you could really wish for in a Latour. The 2016 can be uttered in the same breath as the 1900, 1924, 1959, 1961, 1982 and 2010. Magnificent.
Neal Martin - 100
Cellar Favorite: Château Latour 2025 New Releases (Jan 2025)
The 2016 Latour is magnificent. Regal and nuanced, with tons of energy, the 2016 is immediately captivating. The bouquet announces an important wine, a feeling that builds through the wine's mid-palate. There's a real feeling of exuberance in 2016, and yet the wine remains quite classic in its structural composition. Beams of supporting tannin extend the effortless, beautifully persistent finish. Unforgettable.
Antonio Galloni - 100
2016 Bordeaux…It’s All In The Bottle (Jan 2019)
The 2016 Latour is epic. A wine of exceptional balance, the 2016 manages to convey both power and finesse to a degree that is exceedingly rare. Although naturally very young, the 2016 possesses remarkable drive and vertical thrust, with more than enough freshness and energy to give the wine a sense of real vitality. Lavender, spice, graphite, plum and smoke develop in the glass, but above all else, the 2016 Latour is a wine of total completeness. Don't miss it.
Antonio Galloni - 100
Southwold: 2016 Bordeaux Blind (Aug 2020)
The 2016 Latour has a very pure bouquet that soars from the glass, more floral than its peers, with crushed violet petals infusing the mixture of black and blue fruit; hints of blood orange and camphor emerge with time in the glass. The medium-bodied palate displays supple tannins and a fine bead of acidity. Powerful and quite burly, this bottle does not deliver the finesse and breeding that previous bottles have shown, simply because it needs a very long decanting. I have encountered perfect examples of the 2016 Latour, and though I did not meet one today, I will do so again. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting.
Neal Martin - 98
Cellar Favorite: Château Latour 2025 Late Releases (Feb 2025)
The 2016 Latour is a vintage that I have tasted a couple of times post-bottling. On one occasion, it warranted a perfect score, but that was then moot since this vintage had not been released. Now that it is due to hit the shelves this coming March, does the wine still merit that three-digit accolade? Without question, yes. Deep lucid deep purple in color, it seems to shimmer in the glass. The bouquet plays with you, a bit of a femme fatale, distant for the first few minutes during which I chatted with the superstar of this First Growth, winemaker Hélène Genin. Then, it magically coalesces and gains incredible intensity with blackberry, pencil lead, background hints of oyster shell and notes of Japanese wakame. The aromatics announce exactly which château you are doing business with. The palate is medium-bodied with filigree tannins, again, as I found before, blessed with beguiling symmetry and ineffable poise. Residing firmly on the black side of the fruit spectrum, there is underlying mineralité. Veins of cassis run through the persistent finish. This is everything you could really wish for in a Latour. The 2016 can be uttered in the same breath as the 1900, 1924, 1959, 1961, 1982 and 2010. Magnificent.
Neal Martin - 100
