Château Latour dinner (2004 – 1945)

Posted By Ronan on July 16, 2010 in Blog, Tastings |

We held a very exclusive £2,000 a ticket dinner featuring the wines of Latour with the gerant (manager) Frederic Engerer at the Greenhouse restaurant. Frederic is an amazing hands-on manager, who is involved in every stage of the wines journey from the vines, winemaking and the final sales and marketing. His contribution to the quality of Latour and his attention to the details have resulted in a wine that can proclaim to be one of the best in the world.

All wines had come direct from the cellars at Latour and some, including the 1961 and 1945 were in magnum.

Here are my tasting notes for the evening:

*Forts 05 – 92pts – dark colour, great lustre, nose big and tight, spicy new wood, quite open, dark fruits, minerally and coffee/chocolate, pure graphite and cedarwood, clean crisp and well balanced palate, young; although approachable now, fine elegant and long. Very good.

*Forts 03 – 90pts – nose open soft, great ripe fruit spicy and rich, oak shows through vanilla and cedar with a rich fruit cake character of mixed black fruits, toasty charred wood, lovely fresh acidity, firm but elegant tannins and long length.

*Forts 00 – 91pts – earthy mineral aromas, a little softening and development, touches of leather, dark fruits and damp earth, bloody meat, cedar and tobacco, fine long well balanced palate.

*Latour 04 – 89pts – nose very young, closed and not expressive, palate quite firm, very fine grained young tannins, juicy fruit to acid balance, supple and quite charming although youthful and still finding harmony. Needs time.

*Latour 01 – 95pts– open with ripe blackcurrant pastille aromas, wet tobacco and mûre, slight violet flowers and a little bonfire smoke, liquorice and black cherries, very complex and luscious. Palate rounded with a clean acidity, slightly chewy tannins, bold fruit round and long.

*Latour 00 – 97pts – nose solid and firm, quite tight, very fine and elegant, hiding lots of power and complexity, fruit on palate solid, weighty tannins very youthful, great elegance and class, young thoroughbred racehorse. Will age fantastically.

*Latour 96 – 96pts – nose wonderful, complex and open, developed yet youthful, mature damp earth and charcoal hints, dark blackcurrant fruit, cedar wood with cranberry and ripe black cherry, very complex and deep, just starting to open up. Excellent.

*Latour 95 – 89pts – tight solid firm nose and palate, acidic and full bodied, disjointed and slighty green fruit? Strange bottle? Big and more tight than 96, less giving and seems like less potential.

*Latour 90 – 96pts – starting to develop a brown aged rim, open earthy, full tobacco and cedar wood cigar box aromas mixed with leather and dark dried fruits, plums, damsons and cherries, minerally and lean acidity, full palate – still young, but with elegant and silky tannins, great balance, will last 30+ years.

*Latour 82 – 93pts (?) – open earthy, round leather and truffle aromas with soft red fruits, cherry and strawberry, sous bois and mushroom, damp earth, very good, complex, soft and elegant. Slightly disappointing length. Off-bottle?

*Forts 70 (magnum) – 91pts – round ripe, open earthy and full meaty complex, cedar wood, damp earth aromas, with a touch of volatile acidity, soft palate and tannins, firm acidity – elegant, fruit confit and dried, at its peak not to age for much longer.

*Latour 66 (magnum) – 96pts – open ripe, earthy fine paprika and smoked chorizo aromas, some confit tomato, cedar wood and cigar smoke hints, palate solid with big tannins and quite grainy on finish. Still lots of tannin, bit hard. Youthful – magnum, bottle probably better now.

*Latour 64 (magnum) – 97pts – fine, open, light smoked meats and gingerbread on nose, full ripe sweet and still youthful, dried cherry, some minerally ironstone aromas, palate soft long and persistent, soft tannins and balanced acidity. (NB- first vintage after Latour went back to Stainless steel fermentation tanks).

*Latour 61 – 98pts – very elegant and fine, still big and powerful for a bottle this old, complex and showing youth, menthol hints, soft fine balance, long, complex, truffle and cinder toffee. Still incredibly showing lots of red ripe fruits, cedar wood and elegant tannins.

*Latour 45 – 99pts – bright cherry red centre fading to a mahogany rim, wonderful lustre. Nose still ripe and sweet, gingerbread, pain d’epices, dried orange rind, strawberry and cranberry aromas, some spicy cedar wood aromas, palate round sweet and long, complex sous bois and mushrooms hints, soft tannins, fresh acidity, very long.

The next morning Frederic conducted a tasting of Forts de Latour for a group of London sommeliers –

Pauillac 06 – 88pts