The 2005 Les Forts de Latour is another beautiful wine from this estate. Medium to full-bodied, with a dense ruby/purple color, loads of blackcurrant fruit, earth, and spice, the wine is extremely pure, broad, savory, and quite expensive. This is a fabulous second wine, but in essence, this is really of classified growth quality. Drink it over the next 20+ years. Drink 2015 - 2035.
The Les Forts de La Tour 2005 has a more complex bouquet compared to the Petit Mouton, with blackberries, wild strawberry and floral scents that just blossom in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, almost symmetrical in the mouth with great precision and intensity towards the finish that gently caresses the mouth. There is a tang of soy on the aftertaste that imparts a sense of tension, an edginess, completing a bona fide classy Deuxième Vin built for the long-term. Drink 2018 - 2040
Deep garnet in color, this is scented of warm black berries, anise, oolong tea and smoked meat. The palate is a little restrained and though just beginning to open into some layers, is still quite taut with a solid structure supporting the generous flesh.
Tasted blind. Lustrous dark garnet. Light inky nose. A bit austere and tight. Even a bit tough in terms of tannin, with some alcohol on the end.
Drink 2017-2030
Good red-ruby. Exotic aromas of roasted plum, currant and graphite. Big, round and sweet but with the broad shoulders of the year. The silky flavors of currant, tobacco and sweet oak show extraordinary baby fat and volume. Wonderfully rich, expressive wine with a very long, silky, aromatic back end. "Better than the 2007 Latour today, and almost as long," says Engerer. (The 2006 Forts de Latour had just been fined.)
Deep extraction of fragrant, floral small berry Cabernet fruit, both creamy and crunchy, fresh and exuberant, much more approachable than expected due to perfect ripeness, very fine. Drink 2012-25.
Came 29th out of 184 wines
The 2005 Forts de Latour (10,000 cases produced) possesses much of the same character as Latour, but sweeter tannins, more obvious and forward fruit, medium to full body, and a more seductive, plusher style, but not the great stature, richness, and architectural precision of its bigger brother. Nevertheless, it is a gorgeous Pauillac that should drink well for two decades or more
A sleeper of the vintage, the 2005 Les Forts de Latour (10,000 cases produced) is made in the style of its big brother, offering notes of blue and black fruits, crushed rocks, and flowers, sweeter tannins, but not the weight, depth, or extract of Latour. This impressive second wine will drink well in 4-5 years, and last for 20+ years. Ask just about anybody which first-growth is pushing quality to the highest level, and the majority will claim it is Latour. With owner Francois Pinault giving perfectionist administrator Frederic Engerer carte blanche, this estate has been producing spectacular wines since 2000. New cellars, winemaking facilities, and barrel rooms only add to their ability to produce classic wines. Production is much smaller than at other Medoc first-growths with only 44% of the 2005 production making it into the grand vin.
The second wine, the 2005 Les Forts de Latour, represents 45% of the production. A blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon and 24% Merlot, it appears to be the finest Forts de Latour since the 1982 (which I had the good fortune of drinking out of an Imperiale and Jeroboam at Restaurant Daniel on the occasion of Daniel Boulud’s receipt of France’s Legion of Honor on March 12th). The 2005 Les Forts de Latour reveals a striking minerality in addition to gorgeous notes of creme de cassis, forest floor, plum, minerals, and subtle oak. This full-bodied, superbly concentrated, fresh wine should evolve gracefully for two decades.
The second wine of Latour is always more open than the grand vin, and this one is no different. Gorgeous aromas of currants, berries, licorice and minerals follow through to a full-bodied palate with velvety tannins and a long finish. Fantastic. Best ever. Hard to believe.
Dark ruby. Dense and voluptuous on the nose. Very beguiling indeed already. Lovely texture and tastes like essence of Latour already. Everything in its place. 13%
Drink 2020-2040
Exceptionally deep crimson. Lots of interest and minerality on the nose - plushness plus freshness. Well done! Reminds me of chocolate powder but with a bit of graphite stirred in. Still pretty youthful. Very clean and bracing finish
Complete, spicy complex nose. Fresh attack with some floral notes on the nose. Quite sumptuous but lacks a little freshness in the middle. Lots of tannin, acidity and fruit. Very very dense. Once this loses its strongly tannic currant character it may become even more satisfying. Very, very fine tannins - dry but not drying finish. Full and broad compared with Latour itself. About eight hectares of mature Cabernet Sauvignon vines have been added to Latour's holdings since early 2005 and have mostly gone into Les Forts. Drink 2016-30
