Latour 2016 (3L)

100 Points, Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com: “Retasting the 2016 Château Latour next to both the 2010 and 2022 had me feeling like a kid in a candy store. Needing lots of air to show at its best, its dense purple hue is followed by quintessential Latour notes of smoky blackcurrants, scorched earth, graphite, and lead pencil shavings. This carries to a medium to full-bodied Pauillac that has lively acids, a pure, seamless, layered mouthfeel, building yet perfectly ripe tannins, and that rare Latour mix of power, austerity, and elegance that makes this château so compelling. Pulled from just 36% of the total production, the 2016 is 92.9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7.1% Merlot hitting 13.5 alcohol with an IPT of 83. It's primarily academic at this stage, but it's starting to round the corner and clearly, with its level of fruit and overall balance, offers pleasure. I think it needs another 5-7 years to hit the early stages of its prime drinking window and will have 75-100 years of overall longevity.” 03/25

100 Points, Georgina Hindle, Decanter: “A monumental wine from Latour. This isn't yet ready to drink but offers an impactful and promising palate full of muscle, tension and length. A complex nose filled with pencil lead, crayon, cola, mint, dried herbs, violets, and tobacco, layered with cocoa powder and espresso nuances. On the palate, it is both generous and controlled, suave and slick, with an effortless texture that fills the mouth with bright red fruits and cool, stony elements. The wine expands beautifully, with a powdery, fleshy grip leading to a long, mineral-driven finish marked by wet stones, graphite, and cola. Still compact and somewhat caged, the tannins remain firm and structured, almost austere in their tension. It carries a sense of power and poise, but still with supreme charm. 3.7pH.” 02/25

100 Points, Neal Martin, Vinous: “The 2016 Latour has everything on the nose: blackberry, graphite, crushed stone, subtle estuarine scents—it’s all here, and exquisitely defined, too. This corresponds exactly to previous bottles tasted at the property. The palate is medium-bodied with life-affirming graphite-tinged black fruit delivered with a sense of symmetry, mineral-driven with a captivating, precise finish. Utterly sublime. Tasted at the 10-Year-On tasting at Bordeaux Index." 02/26

100 Points, Antonio Galloni, Vinous: “The 2016 Latour is magnificent. Regal and nuanced, with tons of energy, the 2016 is immediately captivating. The bouquet announces an important wine, a feeling that builds through the wine's mid-palate. There's a real feeling of exuberance in 2016, and yet the wine remains quite classic in its structural composition. Beams of supporting tannin extend the effortless, beautifully persistent finish. Unforgettable. (Drink between 2026-2056)” 01/25

100 Points, Jacobo García Andrade, JamesSuckling.com: “This has a fascinating nose of tar, tobacco, graphite, dried flowers and blackberries. Remarkably youthful at 10 years of age. The palate is structured and medium- to full-bodied, yet the structure is tempered by elegance. The tannins are integrated, firm, cohesive and well aligned with the delineated dark fruit profile. Youthful and accessible now, but will evolve exceptionally well. Drink or hold. 10 Years On retrospective.” 01/26

100 Points, Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux: “Muscular, intense, maintains the estate signature as do its fellow Pauillac First Growths Mouton and Lafite. Less generous perhaps at Latour, you feel the walls and floor, pulsating, intense and with intent. Still a baby, but as it opens there are cutaways of fragrant roses and fennel, alongside wild blackberry, hawthorn, blackcurrant, cola, juicy pomegranate, dried cranberry, cocoa bean, cold ash and a ton of bitter black chocolate. Love it. Hélène Genin technical director, Eric Boissenot consultant, and at this point Latour was farming entirely organically and biodynamically, with organic certification coming in 2018. 100% new oak for ageing." 01/26