I too am very tempted. Some of the best wines I’ve had have been Latour. The 1990 is mind blowing. My one bottle of the 1996 is the ultra rare ‘saving for a special occasion’ wine for me (usually I try to follow the drink any wine any time way of living).
But: no. I will resist. I’m not sure I’ll ever spend this much on a bottle of wine, but likely only will be tempted by something rarer and well aged. Hah! I hope! And why buy a 3 pack of this when you can one bottle of Bizot Marsannay?
Actually, given recent results you could buy only a 72% of a bottle of Bizot Marsannay for the price of a three-pack!
Having tasted it in barrel and in bottle, 2014 is a very good Chateau Latour. And for Latour, it is probably the best-priced vintage for a wine at this level of quality. It is also semi-precocious for Latour, so it will drink relatively early. I look forward to tasting it a third time shortly.
1996 and 2016 were both mentioned. Yes, 2016 is a better vintage. So what? 2016 is not for sale. And when it is offered, I am willing to bet it will be a lot more money. Plus, 2014 will also drink well years before 2016 is ready. I love 96 Latour! I think 96 is a better wine than 14. 96 has more concentration, power and bottle age. It drinks beautifully today. 96 is also more money.
If you are a fan of Latour, and if you have the money, 2014 Latour is worth buying.
You can read tasting notes for all 3 vintages on my site if you like… Learn about Chateau Latour Pauillac, Complete Guide
Thanks all for the replies and in-depth discussion so far. Surprised to see several folks with very different palates (William, Alfret, Jeff) all agree this is worth considering if you can stomach the cost.
I have not yet had the privilege of trying Latour, but the above discussion and comparison with 1996 persuaded me to bite for a bottle (and somehow I am still am considering more, after all this is Wine Berserkers!).
This seems to be a “good value” for a Latour from a good vintage. Still nervous making such a large purchase (for me) blind, but I know in 15-20 years I’ll wish I bit on more.
Has anyone recently tasted the other highly rated stars of this vintage - e.g. VCC, Pichon Lalande, Cos d’Estournel, Beausejour HDL, Montrose, Haut Brion, etc. not to mention the similarly priced Mouton and Cheval Blanc? As usual seems like Haut Brion is the bargain 1st of the vintage. How do these wines compare to the Latour?
This is one of those situations in which I’m more tempted to buy lots of 2014 VCC, PLL, and Cos instead of Latour.
I think this kind of thought all the time. I try to ignore it, sometimes I fail. But I know that future me doesn’t give a damn about how overflowing current me’s wine storage is. Future me also doesn’t care about current me’s credit card bills. Future me is so damn shallow and forgetful!
There are some very serious northern Médoc 2014s, but Latour is liable to emerge as the wine of the vintage.
I struggle to think of a right bank 2014 where I wouldn’t rather own the 2012—or, indeed, in the case of a couple of outliers such as VCC and Cheval Blanc for example, the 2011.
If I were to be spending money at that level I would definately go with l’Eglise Clinet for a red in 2014.
But… wine of the vintage is certainly d’Yquem on my list. Best in class in a vertical last month. Perfection to me. Can’t think of another 14 coming even close.
Cheers,
Some sage advice their on the right bank wines, all three vintages have such great merit, especially in Pomerol.
On 2011, I stocked up on VCC and Magdelaine. Bought lots of Pomerol in 2012, but my standouts are Trotanoy, l’Eglise Clinet and VCC. And in 2014, a personal favorite vintage of mine, I loaded up in VCC, which I think is better than 12 and 11 by a point or two, and l’Eglise Clinet. I should have bought Trotanoy before pricing went crazy.
Pulled the cork on Cos a few minutes ago. I let you know what I think tomorrow.
I got mags of 14 HB for not much more than the price of this latour, fwiw.
I bought a 6 pack of 14 Latour and a 6 pack of 2016 Forts through Flickinger. Happy to have them both. Relatively speaking, I agree that the 2014 Latour is quite a good price for Latour. For whatever reason, that whole 2014 vintage has always been relatively affordable for a good quality vintage. I bought quite a bit of 2014 LMHB at $199 for instance when it first came out, and even now it seems pretty easy to find that wine around $220.
Thank you Robert, Johan and William for the thoughts on the 2011/12/14 Right Banks. I actually have zero Bordeaux from those vintages, more’s the pity. Zero so far!
Along the theme of utterly destroying my credit cards … what are thoughts of the 2000s in the Right Bank? I have some experience of these from 2000/1/5/6/7 and a few more in my cellar from some of these names and others like Clos L’Eglise, L’Evangile and La Conseillante. I actually picked up a half case of 2007 L’Eglise Client for a song a few years back and went through them pretty quickly. Not epic wines but absolutely delightful.
What vintages and producers should I be looking for that might be affordable?
(Side note - it sure is lovely how available and not ludicrously skyrocketing in price Bordeaux back vintages are. Unlike their neighbors to the northeast!).
As said above, if money were no object I would go for it. The reviews that are coming sound great. But as that’s not the case I will always prefer one bottle of 2016 Latour vs two 2014 Latours (same as I would always choose one 1961 over the three or four 1962s the 61 costs). No I haven’t tasted it but I have tasted many 2014s incl. all other Premiers and Cheval and while they are good to very good wines, they’re just not on the same level as 2016.
Big question, and I’m getting ready for a trip so can’t really do it justice, but if you want something really affordable and very good, buy some 2016 Tronquoy Lalande. And in 2014, look for some Phélan Ségur.
I have a go to answer whenever someone asks about value for the right bank. It is to load up on the wines of Denis Durantou. It’s a pretty well known secret.
Les Cruzelles, Montlandrie, La Chenade, Saintayme and of course La Petite Eglise continually and in every vintage are many steps above what their prices may suggest. You simply can not go wrong. Not investment grade, but absolute pleasures to age and drink. There will be no regrets. Denis was a true genius and it comes through in his wines. Few things have made me happier in Bordeaux these last years than his daughters taking up the reins and doing it so well. I guess it’s hereditary.
And oh yeah, 2001 is absolutely brilliant just now as a vintage.
Cheers
On this I would agree more than a little.
Latour is a wine I usually have a hard time with as a barrel sample. With 2016 primeur at Latour however, for the first time since 2005, I walked out of the room absolutely sure I’d tasted a perfect wine (and taken a nice little selfie as per below).
In bottle that feeling has held up. Certainly my pick of the decade from there as it stands, although the 19 is not looking shabby…
14 is surely great stuff (solid 94+ points in my iPhone), but 16 is magical (no scale required as you’ll not be thinking in those terms).
Cheers,
Thank you William. But actually I meant - of the 2000s in the right bank are their unsung heroes (I was thinking of 2011/2 right banks and wondered what I am missing from the previous decade)?
Well, I think people are aware of the quality of 2001, but the market still doesn’t reflect it fully. Clos Fourtet and La Conseillante were both beautiful recently.
We really enjoyed the Cos last night. I decanted at 5pm along with a bottle of '12 Vine Hill Ranch and we started drinking them around 8pm with rack of lamb. Two very opposite wines, as is to be expected, but both very enjoyable. The Cos is dark fruit, well-balanced wine with graphite, iron, plums, cassis, blackberries. It really stepped it up a notch once we got halfway through the decanter and it was a great drink on it owns after dinner. Next time, I would give this a few more hours in the decanter. I can see the comparison to the '96 vintage in general. I would love to drink this with duck leg confit.
I went pretty deep in '14 because I was looking for something that I thought would drink relatively young and for the most part I have been happy. I have drunk quite a few 375’s from this vintage including Baron, Lalande, Cos, and Montrose and they have all drunk well. Classic, tasty, well-balanced, nothing overdone and a bargain if purchased EP.
