Thanks to Todd French and Roy Hersh for coming in for this one. Also to Charles Curtis from Christies and John Pagnucco who is the Grand Regent of the Commanderie in the US.
A great time was had by all!
On Sunday, 30 or so lucky souls were invited to a vertical tasting of Chateau Latour hosted by Mark Taylor. Yves Durand was the leader of the tasting. A rare special treat. The wines were remarkably consistent. Intense. All had first growth breed and length.
Flight One
Glass 1- Intense fruit on the nose with a slight amount of spirit in the beginning. This integrates and this wine becomes a real beauty. Dark fruit. Great intensity with first growth presence on the palate. Long and satisfying finish. Incredible!
My guess was 2002.
Glass 2- This is very young. The nose shows lots of coffee from the elevage and sexy fruit. A less powerful year of Latour here. The palate is complex but still shows a fair amount of restraint. First growth intensity here. The finish is very nice. Not the longest however. My guess was 1998.
Glass 3- Extraordinarily young. Ripe. There is a special complexity here and intensity. It is concentrated but the mid palate complexity and finish is absolutely stunning. This is my favorite of the first flight and incredibly long. Special. My guess was 2003.
Glass 4- My glass was corked. My neighbors glass which was from a different bottle showed a fantastic elegant young with fabulous intensity and length. It was on the early part of the development curve. My guess was 1996.
Glass 5- This is so young. Really wound up in the structure at this point. Lots of coffee from the elevage. Chocolate too. This wine is intense and very long. Fantastic. My guess is 2001
Glass 6- This nose is the first that has shown some elements of tobacco and cedar shavings that you find in secondary development. Intense and young. Beautifully structured and incredibly long. I loved this! I thought it was the 2000.
1. Chateau Latour 2001
2. Chateau Latour 1998
3. Chateau Latour 2003
4. Chateau Latour 2000
5. Chateau Latour 2002
6. Chateau Latour 1996
Young beauties. What a treat.
Flight Two
Glass 1- An absolutely stunning nose. Dark fruit. Cedar shavings from a pencil. Complex tobacco note. Elegant in many ways but very powerful. The palate shows ripe fruit wrapped in a complex robe of tobacco spice. Very long finish. My guess was 1982.
Glass 2- Younger nose. More coffee type notes. Very intense nose of dark fruit and cigar notes. Mix of tobacco and cedar shavings. The palate is intense and takes some time to really come out. Explosive finish. My guess was 1990
Glass 3- A Bern’s type of wine. An almost indescribable complexity to the nose. Older ripe fruits, cedar shavings and tobacco. The palate is the most open of the entire tasting. Showing an extra level of complexity. A shower of tobacco notes. Incredibly long. I guessed the 1966 because of the age and complexity. Crazy!
Glass 4- This is the most elegant wine. Not powerful at this point. Beautiful darker fruit. Tobacco. A wonderful finish that lasts for a long time. Fantastic. My guess was 1970.
Glass 5- This wine was horribly oxidized. It had some stewed fruit. Don’t know if it was provenance or just the bottle is now struggling. The oldest wine to me. I guessed 1964.
Glass 6 - This wine had almost no nose for the longest time. A very sexy and balanced palate that is dominated by the fruit. The tannins are very slightly drying. Incredibly long finish. A baby. My guess was 1995
1. Chateau Latour 1970 – a pleasant surprise. This is fabulous.
2. Chateau Latour 1990
3. Chateau Latour 1982 – shocking how open and deep this wine was showing. One of my top Bordeaux experiences ever.
4. Chateau Latour 1964
5. Chateau Latour 1966 - this bottle was off
6. Chateau Latour 1995
A very special flight of wines. I probably won’t get this chance again.
It was great to see some old friends and meet some new ones. It really is what these tastings are about.
Santé.