Chateau Latour 1998

robert_parker91

Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.

Latour's harvest occurred between September 22 and October 5. As my vintage report indicated, that is a period of considerable precipitation. Fifty-nine percent of the production was included in the grand vin, and the final blend consisted of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot. The 1998 is a refined, elegant offering with a dark ruby color, sweet cassis fruit, attractive fat, surprisingly soft tannin, and a good finish. There is firmness and muscle in the background, but this is not an enormous or powerful Latour. However, it is very pure, with the vineyard's mineral/black fruit character presented in a medium-weight format. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2025.

robert_parker93

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

A deep garnet core with a deep crimson rim. I was never convinced about this wine when I tasted it at en primeur and contrasted against its contemporaries in this horizontal, its deficiencies are all too visible. Moderate intensity on the nose, open and expressive with notes of black fruits, wild hedgerow, pencil lead, dried leaves, roasted herbs, perhaps lacking the freshness and vigour of say Haut Brion 1998. The palate is medium-bodied, very harmonious and surprisingly fleshy for Latour, with rounded supple tannins, a certain lushness that you infrequently find here, a touch of spice on the finish. But it lacks the tautness, the tension, the depth and grip of a truly great Latour and against Haut Brion, it shows like the bantamweight of First Growths, a bantamweight Latour? Approach with caution in 2-3 years. Tasted March 2008.

robert_parker91

Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.

This opaque ruby/purple-colored, closed 1998 reveals some of the vintage's tell-tale harsh tannin in the finish. There are abundant quantities of ripe black currant fruit, medium body, and a sweet attack, but a narrow, tough finish. The wine should be outstanding, but it is a firmly-structured Latour. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2025.

robert_parker95

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

Dark purple with pink rim. The nose is paradoxical, in seeming very intense yet very closed. Nonetheless and elegant palate of cassis and blackcurrant. Very smooth tannins. Good complexity. Not a blockbuster but beautifully made. Tasted June 1999.

robert_parker90

Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.

Not a blockbuster, the 1998 possesses a dark garnet/purple color in addition to a complex bouquet of underbrush, cedar, walnuts, and licorice-tinged black currants. Although medium to full-bodied and moderately tannic, it lacks the expansiveness in the mid-palate necessary to be truly great. Moreover, the tannin is slightly aggressive, although that is hardly unusual in such a young Latour. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2030.

vinous92

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

The 1998 Latour was in fact the first vintage I ever tasted en primeur at the château. It was an early vintage after budburst on 20 March and the picking began on 20 September until 5 October, the Grand Vin a blend of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot (compared to around 9% these days), 4% Cabernet Franc 1% Petit Verdot. It has an open-knit bouquet with notes of black fruit, iron, undergrowth and autumn leaves. You cannot help noticing its rusticity compared to present-day Latour. The palate is medium-bodied, well balanced, a tang of soy marking the entry, brambly red berry fruit and an almost Graves-like, tertiary, slightly short finish. It is a mid-weight Latour, one that I cannot envisage improving further but it will cruise at this level for the next decade. Tasted at the château.

vinous91

Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer

Red-ruby. Deep aromas of cassis, licorice and lead pencil. Deeper than Les Forts but currently rather mute in the middle. Strongly minerally. Offers classic Latour structure and spine. Finishes with sneaky, subtle persistence.

vinous93

Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer

Medium ruby. Aromas of cassis, black raspberry, fresh herbs, minerals and tobacco leaf. Juicy but dense and backward, and currently quite closed. Restrained sweetness accentuated by a flavor of dark chocolate. Finishes with substantial, rather tough tannins that currently cut off the fruit somewhat. We could have done more careful selection in the vines, notes Engerer, but this wine will nevertheless be one of the standouts of the Medoc.

vinous94

Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer

Deep ruby. Vibrant aromas of cassis, minerals, licorice and shoe polish, plus a floral topnote; very Latour. Dense and fleshy but powerful and rather austere. Very long on the aftertaste, which features substantial dusty tannins. This will rely more on its tannic structure than on its acidity for aging.