Les Forts de Latour 2014

The 2014 Les Forts de Latour has a smudged, quite opulent bouquet with lavish red fruit, leather and undergrowth scents, more forward than I would expect from a wine this youthful. The palate is medium-bodied with soft tannin and a little chewy in the mouth. Like the nose, this Les Forts de Latour feels unusually decadent for the vintage with a sweet finish that needs to muster more reserve and breeding. It is not unlikeable, quite the opposite, but it needs to develop more Pauillac characteristics. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. 2020 - 2040

Glorious aromatics with currants, flowers, stones and light mushrooms. Medium to full body and fine tannins that are long and polished. Super linear, structured and long. Drink in 2019.

The 2014 Les Forts de Latour is a blend of 71.4% Cabernet Sauvignon and 28.6% Merlot. Deep garnet-purple colored, it needs a little coaxing to reveal expanding scents of blackcurrant pastilles, baked plums and boysenberries with suggestions of wood smoke, fragrant earth, cast-iron pan and charcuterie plus a faint waft of black truffles. Medium-bodied, the earthy/savory palate has loads of lively black fruit with a refreshing line and firm, grainy tannins, finishing on a lingering ferrous note.

Tasted blind. Well mannered, not showy. Solid performer with no rough edges. Clean and fairly dry. Classic Pauillac but it is not going the extra mile.
Drink 2025-2040

First produced in 1966, this is not really a second wine as it is produced from separate parts of the vineyard which contain many old vines, as well as from some vats that are not quite up to the standards of the Grand Vin de Château Latour. Grapes from the vineyard's young vines do not go into Les Forts de Latour but are used for a generic Pauillac third label. Clearly the equivalent of a top classed growth. Under Frédéric Engerer's management, Les Forts de Latour has continued to improve in quality and recent vintages have been at "super-second growth" levels. This wine will not be sold En Primeur but kept at the Chateau until it is mature. 71.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28.5% Merlot. 40% of total production (33.9% goes into the Grand Vin). Deep colour, with a brooding black fruit and licquorice nose. The palate is dominated by cassis and black cherry fruit, and has more grip and power than most wines of the vintage. The oak adds a spicy, toasty note on the mid-palate and finish. The acidity adds a freshness and coolness to the ripe black fruit, which is intense on the long finish.

The second wine of the estate is the 2014 Les Forts De Latour and this beauty is better than most estate grand vin. Made from 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, and the balance Petit Verdot, this straight up classic Pauillac is loaded with notions of red and black currants, lead pencil shavings, roasted coffee, graphite, and Asian spices. Deep, medium to full-bodied, impressively concentrated, and layered, it’s a seriously good wine that’s going to continue drinking beautifully for two to three decades. 2018 - 2048

Offers a core of pure cassis and blackberry fruit, with mouthwatering streaks of graphite and anise. Racy-edged, featuring ample grip buried through the finish. Reveals a violet echo for good measure. Textbook. Best from 2018 through 2030. 9,022 cases made.

Fragrant and fresh the nose appears quite light but the palate has richness and depth black fruited power. Ripe tannins help the mid richness sweet black fruits and although slightly lighter at the back the finish has concentration and black fruited power. 2019-30

Deliberately made as a "vin de garde", the second wine of Latour is no pale reflection of the grand vin. Dark, compact and slightly reduced, it's a classic Pauillac with well handled oak, bright acidity, scented cassis and mulberry fruit and the lowish alcohol that is so typical of the vintage.