Chateau Latour vertical (K&L Wines; moderated by Robert Parker)
San Francisco, CA
Tasted Wednesday, October 15, 2003 by hcampana with 2,722 views
Introduction
Chateau Latour vertical tasting with Robert Parker in San Francisco
By Horacio Campaña Acosta
Fate must have played a big role in my attending this tasting. I am a passionate wine drinker who is unlucky (from a wine standpoint only) to live in a country (Mexico) in which wine is rarely a passion and where even more rarely, grand wine events occur. First of all I was lucky to secure my ticket the second day they were available for sale thanks to a note in one of the internet wine boards that I typically read and participate in and my loyalty to K&L Wines, where I buy most of my Bordeaux. Then all my plans were destroyed when I had to go on a two-month assignment to China that would prevent me from attending. Then my China trip was cut short and I was able to participate in this grand event.
I got to One Market Restaurant very early, thinking the event started earlier than it did. That gave me a zoo-like voyeur opportunity to observe Mr. Parker roaming his glass cage (the restaurant) 60 minutes prior to the event. He walked the floor with some papers in one hand and a bottle of Pellegrino mineral water on the other. He read the papers occasionally, looked through the big format bottles that would be auctioned during the event, drank more water and finally sat down in a round table, his back to the street and made a phone call on his cell that he had to cut short as a horde of fans walked through the door, pushing each other to try and sit in the same table with “the man”.
My experience with older Bordeaux is very limited as I only started buying seriously in the mid 1990s, so this event offered me a unique glimpse of what I could expect from my 1995s, 1996s and all other Bordeaux I have in my cellar when 10-20 years pass by.
The biggest revelations for me were:
1. How drastically the nose of older Bordeaux changes from youth to middle age. 2001, 2000 & 1999 had youthful, fruity, primary, almost new world noses, while all vintages prior to 1990 were dominated by minerally, spicy, clearly old world noses with only a reminiscence of the fruit dominated aromas of their youth.
2. How new world-like the very young Latours and Les Forts de Latours smell and taste. Fruit forward, ripe fruit flavors, tannins in check and drinking beautifully even at this young age.
THE PEOPLE
I had a great time meeting a lot of wine lovers during the opening cocktail in which 1995 Grand Siecle was served (very good but with too much acidity for my taste and slightly disappointing given the vintage and the pedigree of this wine). I was slightly surprised at the number of people I met that were not as passionate and knowledgeable about wine in a tasting of this caliber. Granted, my sample may not have been representative of all the people in attendance, but I spoke with several people that had never tasted a Bordeaux! (let alone a Latour). Towards the end of the cocktail I hooked up and later sat with a Mark Squires board member (Keith Goldstein) with whom I’d corresponded prior to my trip). This made my tasting a lot more enjoyable given his knowledge and passion towards wine and a remarkably similar palate to mine (we only seriously disagreed on my liking of the 1988 Latour).
THE TASTING
There were 200 people in attendance, who were seated in 4 half oval shaped rows of 50 people each. The introduction was made by Clyde Beffa (K&L Wines) and the tasting was conducted (rather informally) by Frederic Engerer and Robert Parker from a high stage in the middle. The wines were double decanted and served in Riedel Overture glasses (2,800 of them) in chronological flights (something Frederic Engerer disagreed with, instead proposing they should have been served according to flavor intensity). For the caliber of wines we tasted, pours were generous. Either the wines were mishandled (a claim that has been made by many, but that at least for me didn’t damage the wine flavors as all showed very, very well) or lighting was inappropriate to judge the wine colours, which appeared too evolved (bricky) for their ages. For this reason. I will not describe the color appearance of the wines I tasted.
Flight 1 - THE YOUNG BROTHER (3 Notes)
Flight 2 - THE SURPRISING YOUNGSTERS (3 Notes)
Flight 3 - THE TEENAGERS (4 Notes)
Flight 4 - THE COLLEGE CROWD (4 Notes)
Closing
After the event I drew some conclusions:
1. The apparent favorite of the night for the people I informally polled was the 1982 Latour.
2. The 1999 and 2001 Latours are worth buying to consume early, as their prices remain reasonable and they are drinking great now.
3. Comparative tastings, although very valuable and informative, tend to overshadow many wines that in the absence of others, would have been judged more kindly. I wonder how every body’s scores would have changed in the absence of the 1996, 1990 & 1982 Latours.
4. Why did people leave as much wine in the glasses? I agree that getting drunk is not the purpose of this event, but if you pace yourself, you should respect some of the great wines and at least finish those, instead of letting them go to waste. I seriously though about scavenging some 2001, 1996, 1990 & 1982 from the half full glasses that many people left, but etiquette rules convinced me not to…barely.
5. Robert Parker is a smart man. He spat most wines but drank all the good ones!
6. This event was an incredible learning experience for me. It motivates me to keep my patience and wait for some of these longer aging wines develop.
2000 Les Forts de Latour 92 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
2000 Les Forts de Latour
This wine only included 3% of press wine given the quality of the vintage’s fruit. Sweet nose of black currant, crème de cassis, vanilla, pain grille. Full bodied and tight, with noticeable but very ripe tannins. Long spicy finish with a hint of licorice. Great wine. 92+ points.
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1999 Les Forts de Latour 91 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
1999 Les Forts de Latour
This wine had 12% of press wine. Incredibly similar to the 2000 LFdL. Either they poured the same wine in my 2 glasses or these wines are virtual twins. Same aroma profile with slightly less density and additional notes of eucalyptus. A more elegant wine than the 2000, but clearly in the same quality league. At least today, the price difference vs. the 2000 is not justified and the smart drinker should buy some 1999s. 91 points.
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1996 Les Forts de Latour 84 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
1996 Les Forts de Latour
Tis was the only truly disappointing wine of the night for me, given the vintage’s quality and the bigger sibling’s incredible quality. Awful nose of barnyard, horse manure, green bell pepper and other dirty smells. Full to medium bodied, with much better taste than nose, good flavor intensity, although lacking diversity and a disappointingly shorter finish than I expected, although not short overall. I would have given this wine 88 points on flavor alone, but the nose ruined my experience. 84 points.
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