Wine Advisor
Chateau Latour 1996
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Description
Chateau Latour is among the First Growth properties classified in the Bordeaux 1855 Classification. The estate is situated in the southern portion of Pauillac, bordering St. Julien and the Gironde estuary. Latour is considered one of the longest-lasting First Growths, reflecting its high proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon. Chateau Latour has an almost unequaled track record for producing stunning wines that age and evolve for decades, if not generations.
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The ’96 Latour displays wonderful definition and clarity on the nose, typical of the vintage quite masculine and austere, with scents of pencil box, gravel and smoke lacing the blackberry leaf and briary. That graphite note becomes increasingly prominent with time in the glass, gaining complexity and vigour. The palate is full-bodied and very pure, more tannic than the 2000 though not as complex or profound. But it has superb weight, very assertive yet maintaining both balance and freshness. One expects almost a foursquare, masculine dry finish but on the contrary, there is so much fruit concentration that it takes a bow with some lovely ripe blackcurrant, cranberry and raspberry fruit with a little more glycerine than I expected. This is a wine really coming into its own. Divine. Drink 2011-2030. Tasted June 2009.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
A spectacular Latour, the 1996 may be the modern day clone of the 1966, only riper. This vintage, which is so variable in Pomerol, St.-Emilion, and Graves, was fabulous for the late-harvested Cabernet Sauvignon of the northern Medoc because of splendid weather in late September and early October. An opaque purple color is followed by phenomenally sweet, pure aromas of cassis infused with subtle minerals. This massive offering possesses unreal levels of extract, full body, intensely ripe, but abundant tannin, and a finish that lasts for nearly a minute. Classic and dense, it displays the potential for 50-75 years of longevity. Although still an infant, it would be educational to taste a bottle. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2050.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at the Grand Cru Classe opening dinner at Haut-Brion. Sitting next to me, Frederic Engerer rather scorned the ’96, commenting that it would have been a better wine if made nowadays. I think he is being a bit mean. The nose is initially very conservative with sultry aromas of blackberry, tar, cedar and graphite, similar in profile to the 2003 but leaner and less intense. The palate is medium-bodied with great definition and freshness, perhaps a little “dusty” compared to recent vintages with a drier vintage than might be accepted nowadays. Still, it has a delightful touch of smoke and black truffle on the austere finish. Very fine indeed. Tasted June 2011.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted blind at Harry Gill’s annual lunch. This is such a regal Latour with a show-stopping, powerful nose that demands your attention: blackberry, tar, cedar, black pepper and a touch of smoke. Very complex and profound. The plate is full-bodied with sturdy tannins, masculine with touches of tobacco, cedar and truffle on what you would describe as a “classic”, austere but utterly compelling finish. This is but a baby that will grow up to be king. Drink 2015-2040. Tasted February 2010.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Fifty-six percent of the 1996 production made it into the grand vin, a blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot. It is a massive, backward wine that comes close to being a monster. The wine reveals an opaque ruby/purple color, as well as reticent but emerging aromas of roasted nuts, blackberry fruit, tobacco, and coffee, with hints of pain grille in the background. Massive and full-bodied in the mouth, it possesses extremely high tannin, fabulous concentration and purity, and an impeccably long finish. This wine, bottled in July, 1998, will require at least a decade of cellaring. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2040.
Reviewed by: William Kelley
From my cellar, the 1996 Latour is still a very youthful, tightly wound wine, unfurling in the glass with notions of blackcurrants, loamy soil, cigar wrapper and English walnuts. Medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, it's built around by ripe, increasingly melting tannins and a bright spine of acidity, concluding with a long, penetrating finish. Given this Latour's ruby-black hue and impeccable structure, it still has a long future ahead of it. Today, it really begins to expatiate after four hours in a decanter.
Reviewed by: Lisa Perrotti-Brown
Deep garnet-black in color, the 1996 is classic Latour at its utmost. The nose offers a tantalizing array of complex notes including dried Chinese plums, toasted nuts, Indian spices and black olive tapenade over a core of dried cherries and aged meat. The palate is pure power that is stunningly balanced giving a generous level of fruit concentration perfectly offset by a high level of very finely grained tannins and seamless freshness. Possessing a finish that just goes on and on, this is as good as it gets.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 1996 Latour was the first to be made in the new vat room that was completed in the nick of time before the fruit came in. Frédéric Engerer told me that they had no "Plan B" if it had not been ready! He also told me that the 1996 underwent little sorting and no green harvest. It was picked around 22-23 September. Now at 20 years of age, it has quite a complex bouquet that is approaching full maturity, laden with blackberry, charcoal, pencil lead and cedar scents that display impressive precision. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, well balanced with a keen thread of acidity. It is foursquare, correct and very "Latour": saline in the mouth with good depth towards the finish and this bottle showing a dash of black pepper and a hint of licorice on the finish. While not in the same division as say, Mouton-Rothschild or Château Margaux this vintage, it remains a splendid, if quite "serious" Latour. Drink this now and over the next 15-20 years. Tasted July 2016.
Reviewed by: Lisa Perrotti-Brown
A hot, dry August produced very concentrated grapes in 1996. However, it turned a bit rainy in mid-September through early October, making the vintage less consistent on the Right Bank and in Graves. But as the weather turned glorious from early October on, it was an amazing year for later-harvested Cabernet in the Médoc. There was new ownership at Latour by this time, and a new vat room was completed just prior to the harvest this year. The 1996 Latour is medium to deep garnet in color with a profound earthy, meaty, gamey nose with hints of blueberry preserves, crème de cassis and pencil shavings. The palate is full-bodied, concentrated and packed with muscular fruit, with a firm, ripe, grainy backbone and epically long finish. Showing much more youthfully than the 2000 tasted on the same day and still possessing bags of youthful fruit in the mid-palate, this beauty is going to go on and on!
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
First tasted at the Latour vertical in December 2004. Very deep black/garnet core. Very intense broody nose: black cherry, cigar box and cedar. Fantastic definition. Still a lot of new oak at the moment, developing into notes of blueberry with time. The palate has a soft entry. Full-bodied, very tannic with a seamless texture akin to the 2000. Blackberry, tobacco and burnt toast. Amazing fruit concentration and very long. This is veering on perfection. A wonderful Latour but it will demand at least 10 to 15 years cellaring. A second encounter in September 2005 at the Farr horizontal. Much more complexity on the nose compared to the 1995: blackberry, tobacco and cedar with superb definition. Full-bodied on the palate, beautiful balance; a perfect marriage of power and finesse. A profound Latour, their best wine between 1990 and 2000. But needs 10+ years to reach its plateau. At the Petrus/Latour vertical in November 2005. A little maturity creeping in on the rim. Pure Cabernet on the nose: blackberry, cedar and pencil lead. Some leather and dark chocolate evolving. The palate is very tannic, supremely well-balanced and focused though I disagree with others that it is approachable. A little muted here (more than at the Farr tasting) so it needs another five years. Slightly salty on the finish? A great Latour. Blind again First Growth 1996's in September 2006. The nose is reticent at first, but begins to evolve in the glass. Blackberry, truffle, cassis. Good definition. The full-bodied palate is concentrated with notes of blackberry and violets. Good acidity with a sensuous mouth feel. Well-knit mid-palate, but very backward and tannic. Classy, sophisticated. Very fine.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The 1996 is a fabulous wine that should rival, and (in 15-20 years) possibly eclipse the extraordinary 1995. The 1996 Latour is a huge, massive, blockbuster example of this wine, the likes of which are distinct and original. The wine boasts an opaque ruby/purple color, as well as extraordinary, thick, monster-sized fruit, glycerin, and extract on the palate, and a finish that lasts for 40+ seconds. As I indicated last year, 56% of Latour's production went into the 1996, which is a blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Franc. In addition to being a classic Pauillac, it is a textbook Latour, with formidable power, compelling purity, and remarkable presence on the palate. The nose is just beginning to offer some of the mineral, roasted herbs, grilled meats, cassis, and blackberry character of this great first-growth. Full-bodied and layered, with amazing power and richness, but no sense of heaviness, this is a wine to buy for your children. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2040.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Millionaires will have a great deal of fun comparing the last three vintages of Latour, 1994, 1995, and 1996. The 1995 should win most of the head-to-head tastings, but in 15-20 years, I expect the 1996 to be at the same quality level as the 1995. The massive 1996 Latour was made from a blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Franc. Fifty-six percent of Latour's production went into this wine. Yields were a modest 45 hectoliters per hectare (3 tons per acre). The wine is a textbook Latour, as well as a classic Pauillac. It is huge, rugged, and forbidding in its brooding richness, structure, and tannin. The nose reluctantly offers up scents of cassis, minerals, roasted nuts, and, surprisingly, little new oak (another positive characteristic that suggests to me there is very impressive extract in the Medoc's top wines. There is a blue fruit character combined with the classic cassis and mineral-like flavors. Some licorice, as well as chocolate emerge with airing in this full-bodied, powerful, extremely backward wine. I cannot see the 1996 being close to maturity for at least 15+ years. Knowing I will turn 50 in a few months, I wondered if I should consider buying this wine for drinking in my lifetime. In any event, I find readers with the requisite discretionary income to afford these works of art tend to think optimistically. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2040. P.S. By the way, the 1996 Forts de Latour (a blend of 73% Cabernet Sauvignon and 27% Merlot) is a very fine effort. This wine possesses excellent sweetness, crisp acidity, and a deep, black/purple color. It is much more forward than the grand vin, but it still needs 7-8 years of cellaring; it will last for 25 or more years. It is a candidate for a 90 point score.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted blind as a vintage comparison at the Valandraud vertical, the 1996 Latour is a wine that continues to perplex. I just think that given the vintage, the team would have made a far superior wine nowadays. That said, it is still a very fine Pauillac. Here, it conveyed a sense of "airiness" on the bouquet, more backward and surly than other bottles tasted with attractive damp earth and leather aromas. It feels strict and uncompromising when compared to others. The palate is medium-bodied with light and supple tannin, tart red berry fruit, black pepper and plenty of tobacco indicating its Pauillac origins. This is a well balanced, correct and elegant Latour, not the powerhouse of the 2000 or 2005, yet continuing to give drinking pleasure unabated after two decades. Tasted December 2016.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 1996 Latour is a wine that I often find overrated and did not achieve everything that might have been possible in this favourable growing season. That said, this might well be the best of around two dozen bottles I have encountered over the years. As usual, the 1996 is decidedly austere at first, standoffish, looks down its nose at you. Yet it coalesces with time and develops engaging cedar-scented black fruit tinged with pencil box and a touch of iris with time. The palate (again) is a little muted at first but it soon found its voice and evolved very fine tannin allied with a crisp line of acidity. It is not quite as demonstrative as it was even just a couple of years ago, gained some detail and perhaps it will continue to meliorate. Very fine, very fine indeed - but not a patch of say, the Château Margaux or perhaps even Léoville Las Cases. Tasted at the International Business & Wine Latour dinner at Ten Trinity.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Saturated ruby-red. Dark berries, violet, licorice and a note of torrefaction. Explosive, pure flavors are almost too big for the mouth. Finishes with big, sweet tannins and expanding, exhilarating flavors of pruneaux and crystallized dark berries. Perfectly integrated oak. A great Latour.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Deep ruby-red. Vibrant, pure aromas of cassis, blueberry, licorice and flowers. A distinct step up from the above in sheer extract. Great sweetness allied with strong backbone. This has taken on more structure in barrel. Powerful, extremely persistent fruit really stains the palate. Very impressive.
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