The 2010 Les Forts de Latour has a compelling bouquet with intense black fruit, black tea, graphite and subtle earthy aromas. There is wonderful precision here and it is amazingly well focused. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, a killer line of acidity, fanning out with confidence and chutzpah towards the finish that conveys an unerring sense of symmetry. What a fantastic 2010 Pauillac that will give decades of drinking pleasure. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners 10-Year On Bordeaux horizontal. Drink: 2023-2045
Aromas of currants, blueberries and blackberries with a dark chocolate undertone. Perfumes and beautiful. Full body, with velvety tannins that are fine-tuned and tentative. It lasts for minutes. Gorgeous fruit and richness. Perhaps the greatest Les Fort ever? Try in 2018.
Deep garnet in color, the 2010 Les Forts de Latour seems just a little tired compared to the last time I tried it, offering a core of dried mulberries, fruitcake and Chinese five spice followed by scents of balsamic, woodsmoke and fragrant earth. Full-bodied, the palate has chewy, rugged tannins and evolved black fruits, finishing spicy. While still very delicious, I think this bottle may have been a bit oxidized, ergo the question mark after the score.
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 is 40% of Cheateaux Latour's production with a further 24% relegated into the generic Pauillac label. 72.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25.5% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot. An opulent rich nose, packed with black cherry, cedar and cassis. Lovely intensity of fruit and a creamy, rich texture in pefect balance with the considerable tannins. Powerful and dense but pure and precise. This is an awesome wine of clear super-second quality that Frederic Engerer is convinced is the best that he has ever made.
There is a lot of concentrated fruit serious and brooding rich blackcurrant backed by black cherry and slightly firmer sloe. Although the tannins are firm the richness, power, sweetness of the fruit is not over dominated. There is a fleshy power to the finish.
Slightly smoky nose, great expression of rich, vigorous fruit, superb freshness and structure. Drink 2020-35.
Bizarre as it may sound, the 2010 Les Forts de Latour is also the finest I have ever tasted from this selection, which comes from specific vineyards, not really so much a second wine as just another wine from estate holdings. A blend of 72.5% Cabernet Sauvignon and 27.5% Merlot that represents 40% of the production, this astonishing wine hit 14.3% natural alcohol. Extremely ripe and rich, it reminds me of the 1982 on steroids (and that wine is still drinking great 30 years after the vintage). Sensational notes of graphite, crushed rocks, black fruits, camphor and damp forest notes are present in this expansive, savory, full-throttle wine, which is better than many vintages of the great Latour itself from the past. (That may be a heretical statement, but it's the truth as I see it.) This wine needs a good 5-6 years of cellaring and should age for three decades at minimum, given the fact that the 1982 is in terrific form and wasn't this concentrated or prodigious.
Possibly the most profound Forts de Latour ever produced, the 2010, like its bigger brother, Latour, was harvested between the third week of September and October 11. Representing 40% of the production and tipping the scales at 14.3% alcohol, it is a blend of 72.5% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot. Super-concentrated as well as unctuously textured and opulent, this pure, deep Forts de Latour should drink well for 25-30 years. It is as great as the prodigious 1982, which is still drinking well at age 29.
Tasted blind at the Southwold Bordeaux 2010 tasting. This is a very strong performance from Les Forts de Latour. It has a vivacious bouquet with ripe blackcurrant, raspberry, cedar and mint scents, very ripe and opulent with layers of discretely embroidered vanillary new oak. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannins, well judged acidity and a sophisticated, graphite finish with a long cedar and sous-bois influenced tail. Excellent. Tasted January 2014.
The Les Forts de Latour has a very complex nose with subtle notes of raspberry preserve, blackcurrant, graphite and a very faint, almost marmalade-like scents. The palate is medium bodied with great tension and poise, the acidity slicing through the dense blackberry fruit laced with white pepper and graphite. This is a sense of "solidity" to this Les Forts that is paradigmatic of the vintage. Excellent - although it deserves a decade in bottle. Tasted November 2012.
A blend of 72.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25.5% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot, 14.3% alcohol and representing 40% of the production. It has a glorious bouquet with stupendous delineation: blackberry, cedar, mint and a touch of pot pourri. The palate has a tannic entry, the Cabernet Sauvignon is very pronounced with cedar, tobacco and pencil lead. Very classic and very pure, symmetrical towards the finish. Great focus and length. Superb. Tasted March 2011.
This is hyper fine, with beautiful tannins that are incredibly integrated. Full and super intense. Licorice and currants and violets. Splendid. 72.5 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 25.5 percent Merlot, and 2 percent Petit Verdot.
