Ch. Latour
1st Growth Grand Cru Classe
Pauillac
1985

The producer

Is Latour the epitome of the great long-lived Cabernet-based red wine? Certainly, the emblematic tower that gives it its name to the Chateau is instantly recognisable on the labels by any Bordeaux fan, and Latour can claim a history dating back to at least 1331.

Situated on soils with clay under the usual gravel, at the very southern end of Pauillac, one might expect a wine boasting some Saint Julien charm rather than the richly-textured wine of tremendous power and concentration that is Latour. The blend always includes 90% or more Cabernet Sauvignon instilling the wine with seemingly bottomless depths of dark berry fruits that make great vintages simply unforgettable vinous memories.

Owned since 1993 by French billionaire Francois Pinault through his Artemis wine investment company, there has been on-going investment in ever-increasing the quality of the wines, from the Grand Vin to second wine ‘Les Forts de Latour’ and third wine ‘Pauillac’.

Latour is the first major growth to buck the long tradition of releasing wines en-primeur through Bordeaux negociants. Since 2011 all of Chateau Latour’s wines have been released only when considered ready … perhaps 10 to 15 years for the first wine.

The wine

Chateau Latour’s Grand Vin is made exclusively from old vines – averaging 60 years old – from the Enclos vineyard plot behind the estate. The blend always includes 90% or more Cabernet Sauvignon instilling the wine with seemingly bottomless depths of dark berry fruit and an unparalleled tannic structure. Latour is a richly textured wine of tremendous power and concentration which make great vintages simply unforgettable vinous memories. Since 2011 all of Chateau Latour’s wines have been released only when considered ready … usually around 10 to 15 years old for the first wine.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.