2019 Chateau Latour Premier Grand Cru Classe Pauillac

Classic Pauillac darker currants, smoky tobacco, spicy wood, damp earth, and graphite all define the 2019 Chateau Latour, a ripe and approachable Latour that has more accessibility than many vintages while still possessing quintessential Latour character and depth. Blended from 92.5% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot and aged 18 months in new French oak, it's medium to full-bodied with a round, layered mouthfeel, beautiful, almost velvety tannins, and a tremendous finish. I'd happily drink a bottle today (don't tell anyone), yet it's going to benefit from 5-7 years of bottle age and keep for 50 years or more in fine form. Drink 2031-2081. ~100 Jeb Dunnuck

Composed of 92.5% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7.5% Merlot, the 2019 Latour is deep garnet-purple in color. It comes barreling out of the glass with powerful notes of blackcurrant jelly, blackberry pie, and plum preserves, followed by suggestions of pencil shavings, cast-iron pan, and charcoal. The medium to full-bodied palate is exquisitely constructed with a myriad of very fine layers, supported by ripe, grainy tannins and beautiful tension, finishing epically long and mineral-laced. It’s still very tightly wound and will require at least 5 to 7 more years in cellar, then should age gracefully for a good 50-years+. Drink 2027-2077 ~100 The Wine Independent

Dark blackcurrants with smokey tobacco, liquorice and slate. Cool straight away, fresh but so perfectly mouthfilling, not sweet like 2020, this is more cooling and fresh, blue fruit, black cherry, fleshy like fruit skin texture. Dark, I love the 2019s because they're more controlled and serious but so nuanced. To me this is how a great Pauillac can taste, serious, deep, classic Cabernet markers, lots of minerality in the flint and stoney aspects, strong tannins and a powerful, muscular structure with minty sides. An amazing Pauillac, this is really my style. Still so full of concentration and life, this will last forever. ~100 Decanter

In my initial tasting notes i just wrote perfect! That sums it up, it´s just to take the notes from Les Forts and distil them into this. It´s certainly bigger and denser with a plethora of layers of the dark fruits, the refined spices, the gravely notes et al. on the palate its rather massive without heaviness, exemplary tannin and a fresh backbone, with exceptional purity of fruit and a never ending finish. ~100 Andreas Larson, Sommelier

Dark ruby, opaque core, purple reflections, subtle brightening on the edge. Delicate floral nuances of candied violets, fresh blackberry confit, fine herbal savouriness, a hint of old wood, candied orange zest. Juicy, fruit texture, ripe cherries and plums, firm tannins, finely structured, pleasant nougat note in the finish. Mineral and fresh, salty finish, already shows great length, will only benefit from further bottle ageing; great future. (2030-2070). ~100 Falstaff

The 2019 Latour is a profound wine in the making, and it will surely emerge as one of the most long-lived wines of the vintage, as well as one of the greatest. Unwinding in the glass with scents of rich cassis fruit, English walnuts, cigar wrapper, black truffle, loamy soil and violets, it’s full-bodied, layered and muscular, with huge depth at the core, ripe tannins and lively acids, concluding with a long, seemingly interminable finish. Checking in at 14.1% alcohol, this prodigious Latour will require two decades to hit its stride, but it will be more than worth the wait. ~99 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate