Tasting Notes
Vinous – 96
The 2017 Latour is just starting to open aromatically. Medium in body, with tannins that have begun to soften, the 2017 is super-expressive and inviting today. It s a charming, relatively accessible young Latour that is all about finesse and understatement. Bright saline notes and lifted floral top notes convey class.
Anticipated maturity: 2025-2047
JancisRobinson.com – 18+
Tasted blind. Deep ruby colour. Subtle and fragrant nose with wonderfully delineated black fruit and savoury spice. The impression is savoury yet youthful. Intense drive and focus is immediate on the palate. There is such energy and vibrancy yet the cassis fruit at the core remains ripe and rich. Mouth-coating tannins would detract from this refinement if it weren t for their ripe and fine-grained nature. A remarkable feat in this vintage to find such ripeness and structure without excess. Harmonious and long. (TP)
Anticipated maturity: 2027-2042
Robert Parker – 98
The 2017 Latour is a blend of 92.1% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7.8% Merlot and 0.1% Petit Verdot with 13.3% alcohol and an IPT of 66. Deep garnet-purple in color, it starts off a little broody before exploding from the glass with powerful scents of ripe blackcurrants, blackberry pie and preserved black cherries plus touches of cedar chest, fenugreek, cumin seed and charcoal with emerging wafts of violets, dark chocolate, star anise and fertile loam. Medium-bodied, this may be one of the most elegant, great Latours ever, revealing layer upon layer of fresh, crunchy black fruits with a vast array of exotic spice and floral nuances, framed by super ripe, super fine-grained tannins, finishing very long with mineral sparks coming through. This is so nuanced and perfumed that I imagine, in 50 years, this wine could be mistaken for a great red Burgundy.
Anticipated maturity: 2026-2075
