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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 91 pts. and median of 92 pts. in 75 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Oli_Vilmo on 5/19/2024 & rated 92 points: Still a lot of structure and power (48 views) | | | Tasted by Mark Burnett on 8/19/2023: Deeply concentrated garnet in the glass, with only a small bit of brickish rim variation. Brilliant color for a 42 year old wine.
Intense aromas which highlight secondary notes that keep evolving in the glass with every sip. Most prominent is fresh bay leaf. It’s incredibly intense and enfolds other notes, like mint and eucalyptus. Of the 5 first growths of the 1981 vintage, this was the most powerful and the most herbal.
Flavors kindly follow the nose, with red plum and tart cherry underneath the bay leaf and botanicals.
Mouthfeel is medium bodied with medium plus acidity, along with a front-of-mouth, medium plus tannic structure that enfolds the mouth from the sides of the gums up and over to the front. Powerful and intense for 42 years. (712 views) | | | Tasted by Trickyone on 8/19/2023: Les Premiers Crus (aka Schrödinger's Tasting) (The Ridge): More details later. (1084 views) | | | Tasted by dbkitc on 7/8/2023 & rated 90 points: This is a very good, not great wine. That said, it is absolutely delicious. Mature ruby / brick color. The nose leads with classic cassis, tobacco and cedar notes. A touch soapy. Could bury my nose in this all afternoon. Textbook. The palate is mature and soft for Latour. Again classic fruit and cigar but it’s almost “Latour Lite” as it is missing the layers and depth of this wine in the great years. Love drinking it but understand it’s limitations. (90) (1178 views) | | | Tasted by Mulvk on 2/12/2022: Lead pencil, cigar box, leather. Was beautiful (2843 views) | | | Tasted by Xavier Auerbach on 9/23/2021 & rated 92 points: Sjaak's 40th birthday dinner (Groot-Ammers, Netherlands): Needs time to develop its crisp and fresh Cabernet character, cool and minerally but with warmth and spice, slender but complete, retains good tannic grip, hint of green on the finish. (3985 views) | | | Tasted by skyblue80 on 9/11/2021 & rated 94 points: The fill of the bottle was excellent and the cork perfectly in tact, so was very anticipatory before opening. Indeed, the wine was perfect. On PnP, fruits was plenty and the length was more than acceptable. The complexity was enviable at 40years old and it feels that the wine can still be kept for 3-5yrs. It shows you the aging power of Latour, which never disappoints, especially on a slightly off (non popular) vintage! Drank alongside 86 Cheval Blanc, 89 Clinet and 96 Musigny. The 89 Clinet wins WOTN. (2773 views) | | | Tasted by tooch on 2/16/2021 flawed bottle: DOA (3896 views) | | | Tasted by mariow on 2/13/2021 & rated 91 points: high shoulder; much better than expected after reading the recent notes; elegant with good fruit, medium finish (3115 views) | | | Tasted by pkouchu on 1/27/2021 & rated 90 points: leather, cedar, tobacco, black currant, tart red cherry, mushrooms, smoke, cassis, tea leaves and spice box
way past its prime, feels like its on its last legs before a rather sharp decline. complexity and mouthfeel are nice, just old and tired. (2200 views) | | | Tasted by invineform on 12/25/2020 & rated 92 points: Quite glad I finally drank this, actually (having bought it in around '97). Still a fabulous example of the Medoc, with the complexity and finesse you would expect from a First Growth. However, '81 was not a stellar year and my bottle - at least - had definitely peaked: I should have uncorked it perhaps 5 years ago, I would guess. (1833 views) | | | Tasted by OenophilistMN on 8/31/2020 & rated 89 points: From Art’s cellar. One-hour decant through a screened funnel. High fill. Cork broke in two but did not disintegrate. Upon decant, a strong aroma of Bordeaux funk had me concerned but it blew off after resting in the decanter. Wine was clear; dark bowl lightening towards the rim which was amber. Thin clear halo. Nose of lead pencil, leather, forest floor and a waft of black currants. In the mouth, tannins all gone, excellent balance. Palate hinted at the currants with leather overtones and a cigar box finish of tobacco and cedar. Finish was medium long. It was time to drink this old soldier. (2210 views) | | | Tasted by Jeff Leve on 2/3/2020 & rated 90 points: This is a vintage I seldom see anymore, as most wines have faded. But Chateau Latour is still hanging in there. Medium-bodied, with a focus on its cassis, herb, green pepper, stone, smoke and tobacco character, there is bright red fruit and cigar notes in the finish, though it ends before I was ready. This wine focuses on freshness and charm, over power and length, which is perfect for the vintage. However, there is no reason to hold this any longer. This was clearly better 5-10 years ago. (3930 views) | | | Tasted by rmcnees on 3/11/2018 & rated 89 points: The color was garnet colored with slight brownish and rust colored bricking. Medium bodied, still showing berry fruit, slightly astringent with modest aromatics and flavors of bell pepper and notes of cedar and leather on the moderate finish. Still nicely polished and holding together impressively given the lackluster '81 vintage, but time to drink as its clearly in the last chapter of its drinking window.
This bottle had a Top Shoulder fill. The cork was totally saturated and spongy but will still intact. I wrestled with the cork using an 'ahso' two pronge cork puller and it eventually relented, albeit it pulled apart at the bottom quarter. I'm certain a traditional corkscrew would've pushed it into the bottle, or caused it to pretty much disintegrate. Opened and decanted for two hours prior to tasting.
https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2018/03/miles-thomas-fort-dinner.html (4836 views) | | | Tasted by burgburgburg on 10/14/2017 & rated 92 points: Base neck. Deep garnet. Cassis, sous bois and herbs in nose. Elegant palate with subtle mixture of fruits, and mineral with fine acidity. A good show for its' class and vintage. (5551 views) | | | Tasted by pavel_p on 6/2/2017 & rated 88 points: Pnp at home. Top shoulder fill. Was expecting the worst as the cork showed clear signs of relatively recent leakage. A clean nose upon pulling the cork and a surprisingly dark, clear garnet color in the glass with only minimal bricking at the transparent rim indicated that the wine was perfectly fine. While not the most expressive, the nose is showing good depth and fine balance. Less convincing the palate which is lean and somewhat astringent, with dark fruit, some bell peppers and a touch of leather. Short to medium finish. Nice enough but certainly not something to seek out if 1981 has no special meaning to you. Nose 90, palate 87 (7078 views) | | | Tasted by paul195 on 5/21/2017 & rated 93 points: First Growth Bordeaux 1978, 1979, 1981 (The Lot): Darkest, most youthful looking of the 1981 flight. Firmer, bolder nose with darker fruits than the other 3 of the flight. The palate stood similarly, darker fruit, more power than the others in the flight, supporting the "iron fist in a velvet glove" style of Latour. Drinking well and edging out the LMHB for best of the 1981s tonight.
This bottle was ranked 4th of the 8 first growths tonight (6782 views) | | | Tasted by NewFrenchClaret on 4/7/2017 & rated 90 points: Almost perfect fill. Rather light in color with significant bricking. Yummy earth and menthol nose; mushroom and tea. No fruit left to speak of.
Not too concentrated for Latour, but feels fresh rather than thin. Tannins nicely balanced. Nice finish, but perhaps a slight metallic tinge. Very drinkable, but there are better wines in 1981.
Drink this now, as it's on a downslope. Don't give it too much air. (6088 views) | | | Tasted by LongViewCellars on 11/24/2016 & rated 89 points: Past it's prime, but had a little life in there. Nothing mind blowing from this off vintage, but enjoyable. Drink up if you are still holding. (4977 views) | | | Tasted by Vino_Veritas on 8/21/2016 & rated 94 points: A purported favorite of Malcom Forbes was Chateau Margaux with a Big Mac. He also supposedly bought Chateau Latour en masse in off-vintages. So a bachelor for the weekend, I decided to try an off vintage of Latour with a Big Mac. The '81 Latour reiterates how off-vintages of this great terroir, when properly stored, truly shine. Immediately upon freeing the cork, pungent aromas of earth, cedar and black current fill the room, reminiscent of the '96 Pichon Lalande and great Pauillac Cabernet. On the palate, everything is nicely in place - gentle tannins with plenty of dark red fruit and nice acidity provide a medium bodied wine with a beautiful, though not very long, finish. Latour is such a special treat that I can't deny bias possibly impacting my score, but the nose alone makes this a really memorable experience. And as for the food pairing, didn't even get to the Big Mac until the last glass, though lamb would no doubt be the ideal pairing (or at least a Whopper that doesn't have special sauce, clearly suited for the more floral notes of Margaux lol). (4650 views) | | | Tasted by Drtomprc on 2/22/2016 & rated 91 points: Little past ideal time to drink but still fantastic (5304 views) | | | Tasted by mariow on 12/27/2015 & rated 93 points: opened two hours before serving, but did not decant. still dark red, not brownish at all. obviously past its peak but still intense on the palate, profound aromas of red fruit typical for a premier cru, quite good structure and finish. (5648 views) | | | Tasted by Dryckesupplevelser on 8/14/2015 & rated 92 points: Stor doft av stall, kola, läder och mörk mogen frukt. Smaken är komplex med tydlig smörkolaton, och mörka mogna körsbär och ett uns créme cassis. Nedslipad tanninstruktur men en lång ihärdig eftersmak. Har nått sin peak men helt okej! (6790 views) | | | Tasted by Simple palate on 7/26/2015 & rated 90 points: Knowing the pedigree of this First Growth, the nose was soft "forest floor", finely balanced with soft tannin on the palate, medium finish.
Slowly developed over an hour, then drifted off gently.
On the whole, this did not wow. After all, 81 was a weak vintage.
(Courtesy of TES generosity). (6205 views) | | | Tasted by chrishsh on 12/28/2014 & rated 92 points: Classic St. Julien characteristics - sophisticated structure on the palate, yet balanced acidity and alcohol level. In a vintage ('81) that is not particularly outstanding, this 30+ year-old wine showing the potential and why this is a first growth chateau. I have no doubt this wine can be in as good as I have experience to drink for another 2-3 years.
Highly recommend to pair with nice aged steak or grilled lamb chops. (7790 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Neal Martin
Vinous, In Excelsis: Château Latour 1887 – 2010 (Jul 2018) (7/18/2018)
(Latour Latour Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Jancis Robinson, MW
JancisRobinson.com (3/16/2009)
(Ch Latour Pauillac Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By John Stimpfig
Decanter
(Château Latour, Pauillac, Red) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous and JancisRobinson.com and Decanter. (manage subscription channels) |
| Château Latour Producer website – Read more about Chateau Latour
Vineyard map
Classification: Premier Grand Cru Classé (First Growth) from the 1855 Bordeaux Classification
Owner: François Pinault since 1993
Manager: Frédéric Engerer
Address: 33250 Pauillac
Telephone: +33 5 56 73 19 80
Visits: By appointment only Monday to Friday, except on French public holidays, from 8.30 AM to 12.30 PM and from 2.00 PM to 5.00 PM
Vineyard: 78 hectares with the grand vin made exclusively from the 47 hectare l'Enclos vineyard surrounding the Château
Soil: Ancient Günzian gravel
Varietals: 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc, 20% Merlot and 1% Petite Verdot
Density: 10,000 vines/hectare
Average Vine Age: 50 years
Average Yield: 45-50 hectoliters/hectare
Harvest: By hand, 100% destemmed
Fermentation: 3 weeks in temperature controlled stainless steel vats with malolatics occuring in vats
Ageing: 100% new oak for 18 months
Racking: Every 3 months and fined with egg whites the winter before bottling
Average Production: 180,000 bottles (55% of total)
Second Wine: Les Forts de Latour
Third Wine: Pauillac
Red Bordeaux BlendRed Bordeaux is generally made from a blend of grapes. Permitted grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and rarely Carménère.Today Carménère is rarely used, with Château Clerc Milon, a fifth growth Bordeaux, being one of the few to still retain Carménère vines. As of July 2019, Bordeaux wineries authorized the use of four new red grapes to combat temperature increases in Bordeaux. These newly approved grapes are Marselan, Touriga Nacional, Castets, and Arinarnoa.
Wineries all over the world aspire to making wines in a Bordeaux style. In 1988, a group of American vintners formed The Meritage Association to identify wines made in this way. Although most Meritage wines come from California, there are members of the Meritage Association in 18 states and five other countries, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Israel, and Mexico.France Vins de France (Office National Interprofessionnel des Vins ) | Pages Vins, Directory of French Winegrowers | French Wine (Wikipedia)
Wine Scholar Guild vintage ratings
2018 vintage: "marked by a wet spring, a superb summer and a good harvest"
2019 vintage reports
2021: "From a general standpoint, whether for white, rosé or red wines, 2021 is a year marked by quality in the Rhône Valley Vineyards. Structured, elegant, fresh and fruity will be the main keywords for this new vintage."
2022 harvest: idealwine.info | wine-searcher.comBordeaux Bordeaux Wine Guide
Vins Bordeaux (Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux)
History of Bordeaux
History of 1855 Bordeaux Classification
"2009 is all about ripeness, with wines impressively packed with ripe fruit and high alcohol levels. They are showy, in-your-face, and full of pleasure. The 2010s have the fruit and alcohol levels of the 2009s, but with a compelling freshness on the finish that balances the fruit and provides a perfect sense of structure." - Ben Nelson
"2016 is a landmark vintage in certain spots of Bordeaux and it should be remembered as one of the most inspired campaigns of the last 40-50+ years." -Jon Rimmerman
"The quality of red Bordeaux in 2016 was universally lauded – although the response to the en primeur campaign was muted. Quantity was high too, with the equivalent of 770 million bottles of wine produced. An exceptionally dry summer with cool nights eventually, thanks to mid September rain, resulted in small, thick-skinned, ripe grapes, and the wines are marked by high tannin and acidity, with superb aromatic fragrance." - Jancis Robinson
"2017 was complicated, but there are some excellent wines. Expect plenty of freshness and drinkability from wines that will offer excellent value, and others that will rival 2016 in terms of ripeness and ageability. But they are likely to be the exception not the rule, making careful selection key." - Jane Anson
"In the past, a vintage such as 2022 may have been overripe, raisined and low in acidity but 2022 had a sneaky little reservoir in its back pocket - a near perfect marriage of cool/cold/rain the previous winter and the previous vintage that literally soaked the soils (a key to why 2022 is not 2003...or 1893)." - Jon RimmermanMédoc Vins du Médoc (Conseil des Vins du Médoc) - Read More about the Medoc
VdB
The eight precisely defined appellations of the whole of the Médoc (from Blanquefort Brook to the north of the Bordeaux built-up area, almost to the Pointe de Grave) may claim the Médoc appellation. But there is also a specific territory in the north of the peninsula which produces exclusively wines with this appellation. In the great majority, the Médocs come from the north of the peninsula. The great individuality of this region is that the number of vines has increased more recently here than elsewhere, apart from a few isolated spots where vines have grown for many years. Today, the size of the small estate has brought about the development of a powerful co-operative movement. Four co-operatives out of five belong to the group called Unimédoc which ensures aging, bottling and marketing a large proportion of their wines.Pauillac Read more detailed information about Pauillac Looking full onto the river from the earliest days, with an important port activity, traces of which go back to ancient times (shipment of bronze as long ago as 2000 B.C.), Pauillac's life has always been intimately linked to the history of wine. Although port activities were at the root of its prosperity, Pauillac had to wait until the eighteenth century when Bordeaux ceased to hold its privileged position to become a wine port. The town then became the natural outlet for the wine production of neighbouring cantons before reaching its zenith in a period when the vineyards were exceptionally prosperous.
The characteristic of the Pauillac terroir is its exceptional relief: the many undulating ridges make it unique morphologically speaking. Highly favourable conditions facilitate the dissection of the layer of gravel. This thin, Garonne gravel from whose very poverty springs great richness, has an extremely effective natural drainage.
With their velvet red colour with a hint of amber, the wines from the Pauillac appellation, full-bodied and rich in tannin, are vigorous. Powerful when young, their aromas of red fruits (black-currant, raspberry) or flowers (violets, roses, irises) melt with the passing of time into a bouquet which is long in the mouth.
Rich and complex, the wines of Pauillac deserve to be laid down for a little longer.
Production conditions (Decree dated November 14, 1936)
In order to have the right to the Pauillac appellation of controlled origin, red wines must:
- come from the commune of Pauillac and from precisely defined parcels in the communes of Cissac, Saint-Julien, Saint-Estèphe and Saint-Sauveur, "excluding the parcels situated on recent alluvium and sand on impermeable subsoils",
- satisfy precise production conditions : grape-varieties (Cabernet-Sauvignon, Cabernet-Franc, Carmenère, Merlot Noir, Petit Verdot, Cot or Malbec), minimum of sugar (178 grammes - 6.27 oz. - per litre of must) degree (an acquired 10°5) base yield (45 hectolitres per hectare). |
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