2016 Chateau Latour, Previewing The Highly Anticipated New Release
With the 2016 Chateau Latour vintage due for release in March, we preview what looks at be one of the greatest wines ever made by this famous First Growth
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With the 2016 Chateau Latour vintage due for release in March, we preview what looks at be one of the greatest wines ever made by this famous First Growth
Has there been a stronger trio of Latour releases since the wine came off the En Primeur system back in 2012?
Jane Anson / janeanson.com
Whilst many chateaux are struggling with how to launch the unanticipated 2024s into a cynical market awash was unsold Bordeaux, Chateau Latour is preparing the release of a trio of modern-day titans. Monday the 17th of March will see the launch of Pauillac de Latour 2020, Les Forts de Latour 2019 and 2016 Chateau Latour.
At the end of each Southwold tasting, we attempt a ranking of the ten most recent Bordeaux vintages we have tasted. Having just tasted the 2021s, we recently turned our minds to the decade 2011-2021. Vintages are split into 4 categories and, in the top tier, 2016, 2019 and 2020 are unequivocally leading the pack.
I would go a step further: 2019 and 2016 are the two greatest Bordeaux vintages I have tasted in my career.
It is also worth noting that our discussion of vintages follows a comprehensive blind tasting in which Chateau Latour almost always takes the #1 spot.
Having tasted over 60 vintages of Latour, I would not hesitate to place the 2016 amongst the top-tier vintages produced over the last century…The 2016 can be uttered in the same breath as the 1900, 1924, 1959, 1961, 1982 and 2010.
Neal Martin / vinous.com
Nearly 9 years from vintage, this will be collectors’ first opportunity to add the epic 2016 to their cellars. The Grand Vin is already winning perfect scores from all the major critics:
At Southwold – the only tasting in the world to which Latour submits samples of unreleased vintages – I rated the 2016 as the finest 1st growth and top of the Medoc, just a whisker behind Petrus overall. However, whilst wine ratings certainly have their place, the critics are always asking us to focus on the notes, so take another look at that quote from Neal above. The comparative vintages he mentions are bona fide legends: putting Chateau Latour 2016 on a par with the likes of 1982 and 1961 should make everyone sit up and take note!
Les Forts de Latour was ‘not really a 2nd wine’ even before all the other 2nd wines declared that they weren’t actually 2nd wines either! Nevertheless, the 2019 is a total showstopper. For me, it significantly out-performs both Carruades de Lafite and Petit Mouton, as well as the likes of Pontet Canet, to come in near the front of the pack in Pauillac. For James Suckling (jamessuckling.com) it merits an enormous 97/100, putting it on a par with Pichon Lalande and ahead of any number of classified growths.
If pushed I would choose 2019 as my very favourite modern vintage, even before 2016. I just prefer the drama and tension of ’19. These are high risk, high reward wines; some chateaux did not pull it off but those that did are utterly spectacular.
2019 Forts de Latour has a seductively creamy, cassis-driven personality but I would bury it away in the cellar and let it see in its 15th birthday before pulling a cork.
Interestingly, William Kelley’s review (robertparker.com) refers to Pauillac de Latour as the estate’s 2ndwine. Presumably, this allows for Les Forts de Latour’s non-2nd wine status?! Either way, from a more conservatively classic vintage, the 2020 has built up some impressive scores:
Neal Martin’s article comments that the 2020 is “perhaps the best I have tasted and equal to some of the appellation’s Grand Vins” and I agree. Under blind tasting conditions, at Southwold, I rated 2020 Pauillac de Latour 93/100, placing it at a similar level to Pichon Baron and well ahead of Chateaux Clerc Milon, Duhart Milon and Pontet Canet.
Finding Pauillac de Latour is not always easy but, at this quality level and given the pricing of recent releases, the 2020 could well prove to be a compelling bargain.
Chateau Latour withdrew from the en primeur system in 2012, declaring the intention to focus on sales of in-bottle vintages that are ready to drink. Whilst I would not consider next month’s releases to be mature wines, they are undoubtedly from years that are high points of Bordeaux in the 21st century thus far. I would be tremendously excited to drink any one of these and encourage Bordeaux lovers to mark March 17th in their diaries.
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