Chateau Latour 2016

The 2016 Latour is a vintage that I have tasted a couple of times post-bottling. On one occasion, it warranted a perfect score, but that was then moot since this vintage had not been released. Now that it is due to hit the shelves this coming March, does the wine still merit that three-digit accolade? Without question, yes. Deep lucid deep purple in color, it seems to shimmer in the glass. The bouquet plays with you, a bit of a femme fatale, distant for the first few minutes during which I chatted with the superstar of this First Growth, winemaker Hélène Genin. Then, it magically coalesces and gains incredible intensity with blackberry, pencil lead, background hints of oyster shell and notes of Japanese wakame. The aromatics announce exactly which château you are doing business with. The palate is medium-bodied with filigree tannins, again, as I found before, blessed with beguiling symmetry and ineffable poise. Residing firmly on the black side of the fruit spectrum, there is underlying mineralité. Veins of cassis run through the persistent finish. This is everything you could really wish for in a Latour. The 2016 can be uttered in the same breath as the 1900, 1924, 1959, 1961, 1982 and 2010. Magnificent.

• Drinking Window: 2032 - 2075
• Reviewer Name: Neal Martin
• Review Date: August 2020

The 2016 Latour is magnificent. Regal and nuanced, with tons of energy, the 2016 is immediately captivating. The bouquet announces an important wine, a feeling that builds through the wine's mid-palate. There's a real feeling of exuberance in 2016, and yet the wine remains quite classic in its structural composition. Beams of supporting tannin extend the effortless, beautifully persistent finish. Unforgettable.

• Drinking Window: 2026 - 2056
• Reviewer Name: Antonio Galloni
• Review Date: January 2019

Regular readers will know that I don’t scatter 100 point scores like confetti, but this is worth every one of them and is the wine of the vintage. Violet, green herb and blueberry notes are framed by sensuous tannins, deftly integrated new oak and a finish that lasts for a minute or more. A stunning wine. 2030-45

• Drinking Window: 2030 - 2045
• Reviewer Name: Tim Atkin MW
• Review Date: November 2018

A monumental wine from Latour. This isn't yet ready to drink but offers an impactful and promising palate full of muscle, tension and length. A complex nose filled with pencil lead, crayon, cola, mint, dried herbs, violets, and tobacco, layered with cocoa powder and espresso nuances. On the palate, it is both generous and controlled, suave and slick, with an effortless texture that fills the mouth with bright red fruits and cool, stony elements. The wine expands beautifully, with a powdery, fleshy grip leading to a long, mineral-driven finish marked by wet stones, graphite, and cola. Still compact and somewhat caged, the tannins remain firm and structured, almost austere in their tension. It carries a sense of power and poise, but still with supreme charm. 3.7pH.

• Drinking Window: 2028 - 2058
• Reviewer Name: Georgina Hindle

Impressively precise and muscular, no question that this needs longer in the bottle before really being ready to drink, but everything is in place for decades of pleasure. Smart timing of this release, a vintage that underlines without question just why Latour is so revered, and why there is a clear logic to holding it back at the estate for almost a decade, allowing the first part of its ageing cycle to take place under fully controlled conditions. Very much a classic Pauillac, with confidence and character, waves of mint leaf, coffee bean, cola, crushed rocks, crayon and liqourice root, opening up to show fragrant nuances of rose petals and peony. 100% new oak for ageing. Hélène Genin technical director, Eric Boissenot consultant, and at this point Latour was farming entirely organically and biodynamically, with organic certification coming in 2018.

• Drinking Window: 2028 - 2060
• Reviewer Name: Jane Anson

I am dreaming as I smell this wine, perfectly ripe cabernet sauvignon with currants, tobacco and fresh mint. Orange blossoms too. This amazing nose is so complex. Medium- to full-bodied, this has has perfectly integrated tannins that you don't feel but know are there, elevating the wine to another level. It's very drinkable because of its stellar balance, yet the tannic tension gives it energy and seamless texture. A benchmark Latour that reminds me of the 1982 in many ways. Drink or hold.

• Reviewer Name: James Suckling

Retasting the 2016 Château Latour next to both the 2010 and 2022 had me feeling like a kid in a candy store. Needing lots of air to show at its best, its dense purple hue is followed by quintessential Latour notes of smoky blackcurrants, scorched earth, graphite, and lead pencil shavings. This carries to a medium to full-bodied Pauillac that has lively acids, a pure, seamless, layered mouthfeel, building yet perfectly ripe tannins, and that rare Latour mix of power, austerity, and elegance that makes this château so compelling. Pulled from just 36% of the total production, the 2016 is 92.9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7.1% Merlot hitting 13.5 alcohol with an IPT of 83. It's primarily academic at this stage, but it's starting to round the corner and clearly, with its level of fruit and overall balance, offers pleasure. I think it needs another 5-7 years to hit the early stages of its prime drinking window and will have 75-100 years of overall longevity.

• Drinking Window: 2030 - 2116
• Reviewer Name: Jeb Dunnuck

With a deep, dark hue, you already note the tobacco, cigar box, wet earth, cassis, forest floor and blackberry characteristics with little effort, That\'s just the perfume. On the palate you find volume, intensity, purity, complexity, freshness and silky, salty tannins. The wine fills your mouth with a perfect combination of acidity and fruit. The mineral driven, oceanic sensation that accompanies the fruit is just great, staying with you as all that ripe, red-fruit builds and expands. Elegant, powerful and refined, this will age for 4-5-6 decades or longer. The wine was produced from blending 92.9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7.1% Merlot. 100 Points

• Reviewer Name: Jeff Leve

Deep dark ruby colour, opaque core with subtle rim. On the nose you detect blackberry, liquorice, black cherry, a touch of ripe plum, savoury oak and a hint of violet. Intense blackberry fruit on the palate, full of energy, taut and with perfect tannins. It seems monolithic and cool at first, but has balanced sweetness, great charm and very long on the palate. A perfect Cabernet wine that seems built for eternity.

On paper, the combination of this estate and this vintage should be a match made in heaven, and the 2016 Latour has already received resounding acclaim among the wine trade and commentariat. The result in the glass, however, didn't quite meet my lofty expectations, offering up aromas of cassis and blackberries mingled with cigar ash, pencil shavings and saddle leather, followed by a medium to full-bodied, rich and layered palate that's undeniably concentrated and muscular but also somewhat austerely structured, with firm tannins that assert themselves on the somewhat carnal finish. For sheer intensity of flavor, the 2016 is certainly impressive, but it appears to be missing the purity and precision that one might expect for a first growth in a great 21st-century vintage. Perhaps the wine's somewhat wild, rustic characteristics will integrate more seamlessly as more bottle bouquet develops, but my immediate reaction to tasting it was to purchase two more cases of the superb 2016 Forts de Latour.

• Drinking Window: 2026 - 2066
• Reviewer Name: William Kelley