August 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.
August 19, 2023 - Les Premiers Crus (aka Schrödinger's Tasting) (The Ridge): More details later.
July 8, 2023 - 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)
February 12, 2022 - Lead pencil, cigar box, leather. Was beautiful
September 23, 2021 - 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.
September 11, 2021 - 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.
February 16, 2021 - DOA
February 13, 2021 - high shoulder; much better than expected after reading the recent notes; elegant with good fruit, medium finish
January 27, 2021 - 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.
December 25, 2020 - 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.