Chateau Latour 1970

robert_parker96

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

Tasted at dinner at Domaine de Chevalier. The Latour ’70 can be such a variable beast. This is certainly one of the better, more representative bottles. Deep garnet in colour, nice limpidity in the glass. It has a beautiful nose that to be honest, sweeps aside the respectable Domaine de Chevalier ’70 poured alongside, like a lord dismissing his servant with a swish of his hand. Graphite, wild black fruit, freshly rolled tobacco and a faint hint of truffle. The palate is medium-bodied and after forty years, still quite austere but the balance is nailed. Masculine and foursquare, a Latour with a lot of horsepower…but not necessarily revving in top gear…at least not after four decades. Lovely cedar and mint on the long, long finish. Wonderful. I do not thing this wine will get any better, but a divine vinous experience now. Drink now. Tasted April 2010.

robert_parker98

Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.

Last Tasted 8/92 It probably comes down to a matter of personal taste whether one prefers the 1982 or 1970. Ideally, Latour enthusiasts should have both in their collections. The 1970 is made in a more robust, less silky style than more recent vintages, but there is no doubting its extraordinary concentration. The more I taste this wine, the more convinced I become that it is one of the two or three finest wines of the vintage. Although it has taken on some amber, there is tremendous saturation and thickness to the deep ruby/garnet color. The nose offers a fragrant concoction of cedar, sweet red and black fruits, herbs, wood, and roasted nuts. In the mouth, this is a formidably concentrated, powerful wine that has shed much of its tannins, but is still extremely dense, massive, and rich. This great example of Latour is just beginning to reach full maturity. It should last for another 20-30 years.

robert_parker98

Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.

One of the top two or three wines of the vintage (Petrus and Trotanoy are noteworthy rivals), this young, magnificent Latour is still 5-10 years away from full maturity. The opaque garnet color is followed by a huge, emerging nose of black fruits, truffles, walnuts, and subtle tobacco/Graves-like scents. Full-bodied, fabulously concentrated and intense, with a sweet inner-core of fruit (a rarity in most 1970 Medocs), and high but well-integrated tannin, this enormously endowed, massive Latour should hit its prime by the end of the century and last for 2-3 decades thereafter. This is will be the longest-lived and potentially most classic wine of the vintage. Cream always comes to the top.

robert_parker85

Reviewed by: Lisa Perrotti-Brown

The aromas suggest this wine has peaked with dusty notes of old leather, dried figs and grandma’s room. The tannins have gone a little powdery with the medium+ level of acidity taking centre stage in front of the remaining bits of fruit. Medium to long finish. Perhaps slightly past it but still provides an interesting glass. Tasted January 2009.

robert_parker96

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

I have been acquainted with the Latour 1970 on three or four occasions, which has evinced some bottle variation, some lacking harmony and focus, others a big, hefty Latour demanding another ten years. Last tasted December 2004 at the vertical. Very deep, almost opaque garnet colour with youthful rim. Very backward, broody, sulky nose or scorched earth, leather and cigar box. Very smooth entry. Full-bodied and muscular, incredible concentration. Good depth. Notes of meat, dried blood, even gravy. Definitely a rich, savory Latour. Does not quite have the sophistication of the greatest Latour, its more the dimension of the wine that wows. Could drink this now but will age for years. Check the provenance if you find a bottle.

robert_parker98

Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.

Tasted 13 Times With Consistent Notes The 1970 Latour is made in a more robust, less silky style than more recent vintages, but there is no doubting its extraordinary concentration. The more I taste this wine, the more I am convinced that it, along with Petrus, are the finest wines of the vintage. Although it has taken on some amber, there is tremendous saturation and thickness to the deep ruby/garnet color. The nose offers a fragrant concoction of cedar, sweet red and black fruits, herbs, wood, and roasted nuts. In the mouth, this is a formidably concentrated, powerful wine that has shed much of its tannins, but is still extremely dense, massive, and rich. This great example of Latour is just beginning to reach full maturity. It should last for another 20-30 years.

robert_parker89

Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.

I have consumed over a case of this wine, and consistently rated it in the mid to upper-nineties. The three bottles from the Chateau's cellars were variable, but seemed surprisingly herbal, with notes of soy, cedar, roasted vegetables, leather, and earth dominating the wine's fruit. Tasty, elegant, medium-bodied, and fully mature, the 1970 is excellent, but not inspirational. A bottle from my cellar drunk in late December, 1999, was rated 97. It appeared to have at least two decades of life remaining. Readers who purchase old vintages of great wines, regardless of whether they are Bordeaux, Burgundy, and California Cabernet, need to remember the expression, "there are no great wines, just great bottles," particularly after a wine reaches 30 years of age.