Château Latour Les Forts De Latour 2018

James Suckling
A solid and steely red with lots of blackcurrant and blueberry character. Medium-to full-bodied and polished, fine tannins. Flavorful finish.

Falstaff
Deep dark ruby, opaque core, violet tints, delicate watery edge. Delicate nuances of cedar, black berry fruit, a hint of plums, tobacco savouriness, mineral underlay. Juicy, ripe cherries, ripe tannins, great sweetness on the finish, oranges and some nougat in the aftertaste, sure ageing potential.

Robert Parker
The 2018 Les Forts de Latour is made up of 65.6% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot and 0.4% Petit Verdot, with 14.2% alcohol and an IPT (total polyphenol index) of 77. It was aged in 60% new oak. Deep garnet-purple in color, it needs a fair bit of swirling to reveal notions of baked black cherries, cassis and blackberry pie with hints of pencil lead, clove oil, cardamom and allspice with a waft of violets. Medium to full-bodied, the palate delivers impressive density with velvety tannins and a lively backbone supporting the generous black fruits, finishing long with all the earthy nuances coming through at the very end.

The good news is that 2018 was the first vintage fully certified organic for Château Latour! The bad news: they got hit pretty hard by mildew, even within the hallowed grounds of L’Enclos, which is very unusual. “Lots of rain at the beginning,” Frédéric Engerer sighed. When I pushed him on their yields for 2018 he grumbled, “Mid-twenties.”“In July, the weather was fabulous and you thought you were OK,” winemaker Hélène Genin went on to explain. “But you weren't. The mildew still began to be a problem, even then.”Merlot was harvested September 17-25, Cabernet Sauvignon on September 28 to October 11, and Petit Verdot came in on September 28, October 5 and October 11.Now the really good news: the 2018 wines are, once again, a triumph, revealing an incredibly powerful Latour that is not to be messed with.

Château Latour skaber nogle af de største og mest ekstravagante Bordeaux-vine. Slottet har aner tilbage til 1300-tallet, da det oprindelige tårn, som slottet er opkaldt efter, blev bygget på ejendommen af Gaucelme de Castillon under hundredårskrigen.

Den gamle Pauillac ejendom er blandt de fire i Medoc, som blev rangeret i den øverste Premier Cru Classé, da Napoleon og sine embedsmænd udarbejdede en klassificering op til verdensudstillingen i 1855. Siden 1993 har slottet været ejet af den franske milliardær François Pinault, som opkøbte vinslottet for ikke mindre end 890 millioner kroner.

Château Latour omkranses af 78 hektar vinmarker som har et ekstraordinært terroir bestående af dyb grus og ler, der er dækket af relativt store afrundede sten, som holder på varmen længe efter solen, er forsvundet. Vinmarkerne er beplantet med ca. 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot og 2% Cabernet Franc og Petit Verdot.

 I nyere tid er Château Latours team begyndt at reflektere mere over metoder for vindyrkningen, og balancen mellem vinen, jorden og miljøet. Således er der sket et opgør med efterkrigstidens hang til tåger af tvivlsomme sprøjtemidler mod ukrudt, skadedyr og plantesygdomme. Siden 2015 er hele Château Latour-vingården blevet økologisk dyrket, og heste hjælper med pløjningen og den naturlige gødning.