Latour 2009

Proprietor Francois Pinault and his director, Frederic Engerer, have pulled out all the stops to produce one of the most monumental Latour's ever made. a Blend of 91.3% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8.7% Merlot with just under 14% natural alcohol, the 2009 Latour is basically a clone of the super 2003, only more structured and potentially more massive and long lived. An elixir of momentous proportions, it boasts a dense purple color as well as an extraordinarily flamboyant bouquet of black fruits, graphite, crushed rocks, subtle oak and notion of wet steel. It hits the palate with a thundering concoction of thick, juicy blue and black fruits, lead pencil shavings and a chalky minerality. Full-bodied, but very fresh with a finish that lasts over a minute, this is one of the most remarkable young wines I have ever tasted. Will it last one-hundred years? No doubt about it. Can it be drunk in a decade? For sure.

The 2009 Latour is endowed with a simply magnificent nose with intense blackberry and cassis fruit laced with minerals and graphite, extremely focused to the point of overwhelming the sense. Wow. The palate is medium-bodied with filigree tannin, multilayered black fruit infused with crushed stone and a hint of white pepper, though it clams up towards the finish as if to say, not yet. Outstanding. This is Latour firing on all cylinders. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting. 2024 - 2070

Deep garnet colored, the 2009 Latour is unashamedly youthful with bold blackcurrants, black cherries and warm plums notes plus nuances of cedar chest, aniseed, beef drippings, truffles and tapenade with a waft of tilled black soil. Full, concentrated and powerful in the mouth, it has a rock-solid frame of super ripe, grainy tannins and fantastic freshness, finishing very long and wonderfully minerally. Just a baby—this needs time! Drink 2022-2080.

Latour 2009 is one of the great young wines I have had the luck to follow closely from barrel to bottle. It is - in my view - the wine of the vintage in 2009. Still an opaque ruby-purple in the glass, it brings vintage and terroir together beautifully. Powerful cassis fruit drives the nose which is still primary, showing flecks of sophisticated wood spice, cedar and liquorice. Despite the solar nature of the vintage, there remains a stony, savoury restraint. The palate is broad shouldered yet highly refined, the bold structure meticulously cloaked by the sheen of ripe black fruit. Expansive blackcurrant, briary and dark cherry tones are bolstered by spices that add to the complexity at this young stage. Powerful yet always controlled, the wine almost coils through the mid-palate, the fruit winding around the structure; it must be one of the only 2009s that is yet to reach its prime. Focusing on the finish with tannins persistent yet slick against the fruit, this sublime Latour will drink well for many, many decades. Brilliant.

A breathtaking combination of dried flowers and minerals, with dark fruits such as currants and blackberries. Full-bodied, with fabulous fruit concentration, yet its compacted. Velvety tannins. So much fruit and beauty. It's the quality of the tannins that are magic. It is the famous 1959 all over again. Amazing. Try in 2022.

Unmistakable Latour in an exceptional vintage, so you should expect a muscular, sculpted and confident wine that is bursting with Pauillac character, showcasing the brilliance of this clay-gravel location overlooking the Gironde Estuary. Still just emerging from its primary stage but just about ready to drink if you give it long enough in a carafe - although it will be even better with another decade. Think blackberry, bilberry, cassis, charcoal, slate, sage, incense, cigar box, grilled cumin and a ton of black chocolate shavings. 100% new oak for ageing, Penelope Godefroy vineyard director, Frederic Engerer director. Tasted a few times this year, and here I am adding to the two notes that are already on this site, one at 100 points, and one at 98 points.

Tasted blind. Lustrous deep crimson. Sweet yet refined. Recalls juggling or tightrope-walking with its mixture of ripeness and freshness. Dry finish on wonderfully precise sweet fruit. Still very youthful. Clean. Highest average score ever! 19.24 because of five 20/20s. 14%
Drink 2022-2050

Many have called this the best vineyard in the world and the dynamic Director of Chateau Latour, Frédéric Engerer, is determined to make the greatest wine possible. He has the confidence of owner, François Pinault, to do all that it takes to achieve this aim. Production levels have been slashed in recent vintages with only the best parcels of vines now producing grapes for the Grand Vin. Latour has always had a fantastic terroir and now has a wine-making team working with state-of-the-art modern equipment under inspired leadership. In the last 10 years Latour has made the wine of the vintage more times than any other Chateau. The 2009 is made from a whopping 91.3% Cabernet Sauvignon with the rest Merlot. The grand vin represents only 38.3% of the total production with less than 10,000 cases produced. Big and black of course, with a classic nose of cassis fruit and some spicy oak. On the palate there is dense black fruit - cassis and cherry - but there is also very much a sense of elegance and class, not just raw power. Long, supremely classy and it builds in the mouth. Significant tannins at the finish. Serous and stunning. Monsieur Engerer says its like the 2000 but with more power, like the 2005 but thicker, as if it had a dash of 2003 in it. Really impressive. Wow!

The perfume of woodland violets and wood smoke leaps out of the glass. There are layers of flavour first blackcurrant, then black cherty and sloe refreshed by the underlying bilberry. The tannins are structured but in no way aggressive allowing the fleshy fruit to show itself to advantage. Drink 2022-2050.

A whisper away from perfection, this is one of the most profound Latours I have ever tasted. It's thick and dense with lashings of new oak. Rich, concentrated and powerful, with the high percentage of Cabernet providing backbone and structure, this is a wine for the long haul with incredible fruit concentration, but smooth tannins. 30+ years.

(91.3% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8.7% Merlot) Black red, huge concentration of black fruits and great purity, wonderfully fragrant nose with wild violets and lifted freshness, great length and perfect texture, totally Latour and all the fruit and vineyard will come out over the years. Drink 2018-45.

Dark and chocolatey with a lot of richness, but also a cool herbal freshness this is a very impressive Medoc wine that's already delicious to drink. Very long, surprisingly supple finish for this château. A perfect wine. Drink or hold. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019)