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Latour 1990

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > Pauillac
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyCabernet Sauvignon

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Label

Tasting Notes

Gala Dinners 1 & 2: After having had two so-so bottles of 1990 Latour from my cellar, I had a great one in, of all places, Seoul, Korea. This beautiful bottle renewed my confidence in this wine, but it does appear to be fully mature, which is unusual for a 20-year old Latour.

95
Robert Parker, Hedonists Gazette, May 2010

Starting to develop a brown aged rim,open earthy, full tobacco and cedar wood cigar box aromas mixed with leather and dark dried fruits, plums, damsons and cherries, minerally and lean acidity, full palate Pauillac still young, but with elegant and silky tannins, great balance, will last 30+ years. Drink 2005-2040. Date tasted 7th July 09.

18
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, September 2009
18.37
Group Tasting, Blind 1990 Tasting, September 2000
Read more tasting notes...

This is one of the more perplexing Latours to evaluate. It has plenty of sweetness as well as a gorgeous, rich fruitiness, but it lacks the firmness one finds in more recent great vintages such as 1996, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2008. There is plenty of sweet, ripe currant fruitiness, abundant glycerin, and full body, but I'm still waiting for that extra nuance of complexity to emerge. It's all there, but the wine still seems to be more monolithic than one would expect in a wine approaching 19 years of age. It is not the sure-fire winner I thought it was in its youth, but then again, I don't have any reason to doubt that more complexity will emerge. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2035.

95+
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (183), June 2009
96
Robert Parker, Bordeaux Book (4), December 2003

This is a beauty, but not the awesome blockbuster I remembered. There is a roasted, earthy, hot year character with extremely low acidity, fleshy, seductive, opulently-textured flavors, and a full-bodied finish with considerable amounts of glycerin and tannin. The wine was sweet, accessible, and seductive on the attack, but it closed down in the mouth. Interestingly, when I previously tasted this wine (about six months ago) from a bottle in my cellar, I found it to be impenetrable, needing at least 6-10 years of further cellaring. Based on this example from the Chateau's cellar, it could be drunk now. In any event, it will last 25-30 years, but is it the immortal classic many observers, including myself, thought it was? Anticipated maturity: 2005-2030.

96
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (129), June 2000
98+
Robert Parker, Bordeaux Book (3), November 1998

There is no doubting that the 1990 is a potential candidate for the wine of the vintage. It is remarkably youthful, with a deep purple color and full-bodied, powerful, massive richness, and everything is held together by high levels of tannin, which is sweet and ripe, making evaluation easy. The finish, which lasts for for 35-40 seconds, reveals layers of flavor as well as impressive purity. This backward 1990 requires another 7-10 years of cellaring. It is a wine for drinking between 2005-2035

Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (109), February 1997
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.