Wine Advisor
Les Forts de Latour 2009
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Possibly the best second wine ever made at Latour (and I love how the 1982 is drinking at age 30), the 2009 Les Forts de Latour is composed of two-thirds Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot blended with a tiny dollop of Petit Verdot, and finished at 13.5% alcohol. Juicy notes of creme de cassis, licorice, camphor, smoke and crushed rocks are followed by a rich, unctuously textured, thick, juicy, exceptionally pure, long wine. This beauty will be at its finest in several years and should keep for three decades. Proprietor Francois Pinault and his director, Frederic Engerer, have pulled out all the stops to produce one of the most monumental Latour’s ever made.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at the chateau, a blend of 65.1% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32.3% Merlot, 0.6% Cabernet Franc and 1.9% Petit Vedot, this Les Forts de Latour sports a deep garnet core. The nose is very well defined, very graceful, very well defined, not as opulent as previous vintage, but imbued with a sense of natural clarity and pellucidity. The palate is medium-bodied with real intensity and focus of fruit, much more minerality coming through than in previous vintages. Lovely, cedar infused finish with just a hint of tobacco. A much more graceful Les Fort de Latour. Very alluring. Tasted March 2010.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Perhaps the finest example ever made (including the extraordinary 1982) of Les Forts de Latour, the 2009 (61.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32.3% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot) is nearly as potent as the Pauillac at 13.5% alcohol. An opaque purple color is followed by notes of black fruits, crushed rocks, spring flowers, and hints of blackberries and smoke. Prodigiously rich and thick with an amazingly long finish of 50 seconds, this astonishing second wine will undoubtedly put on weight before bottling, and should last for 25-30 years. (Tasted once.) There is no doubting that Director Frederic Engerer and owner Francois Pinault are thrilled with what they have accomplished at Latour. These three wines are hugely different in price, but all are extraordinary.
Reviewed by: Lisa Perrotti-Brown
Very deep purple-black in color, this wine has aromas of creme de cassis, cinnamon toast, dark chocolate and vanilla pod. Medium to full bodied, rich and expressively fruity already, it has a medium to firm level of velvety tannins and a long finish.
Reviewed by: Lisa Perrotti-Brown
2009 had a very hot, dry summer with a little rain in mid to late September. The wines are rich, opulent and generously fruited, approachable when young, though they have the substance to age beautifully. This is no exception. Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2009 Les Forts de Latour is very spicy on the nose, strutting star anise, fenugreek and cumin seed notions over a core of crème de cassis, violets, plum preserves and blueberry compote with a waft of camphor. The palate is full-bodied, rich, opulent and wonderfully velvety in the mouth with a very long, multilayered finish.
Reviewed by: Lisa Perrotti-Brown
The deep garnet colored 2009 Les Forts de Latour springs forth with minted chocolate, blackberry pie, sweaty leather and cast iron pan notes with hints of bay leaves and unsmoked cigars. Medium to full-bodied and laden with muscular black fruit preserves and savory layers, it has a firm, grainy frame and lovely freshness, finishing with a minty kick.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at the chateau. The Les Forts de Latour has a very pure, almost Burgundian nose with raspberry, Morello cherry and a touch of dark chocolate. The palate is symmetrical, supremely well focused with hints of liquorice and mulberry. Very pure, the mineralite cloaked by the primacy of the fruit with graphite on the aftertaste. Tasted November 2011.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Served blind at the Southwold 2009 tasting. The Les Forts de Latour has a very fragrant, floral bouquet with lifted blackberry, raspberry cheesecake, vanilla and graphite on the nose. The palate is full-bodied with succulent ripe black fruit on the entry. It is fleshier than its peers, with very good weight and a smooth, rounded, velvety finish that is seeking a little more precision and tension. Tasted January 2013.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2009 Les Forts de Latour shows the richness of the vintage in its dark, slightly roasted flavors. Ample and sumptuous in the glass, the 2009 drinks well now, but it also gives the impression of limited upside, so I would not hang on to it for more than a handful of years. Mocha, espresso, dark fruit and spices add to a feeling of weight and power.
Reviewed by: Ian d'Agata
(65% cabernet sauvignon, 32% merlot, 2% petit verdot and 1% cabernet franc; 13.5% alcohol; 80 IPT; roughly 46% of the total crop) Ruby purple. Perfumed aromas of blackcurrant, sweet plum, milk chocolate and toasty oak are very forward and bright. Sweet and quite rich on entry, this pliant wine has barely noticeable tannins supporting sweet, ripe red cherry and plum flavors. Finishes velvety and long. This is one of the most flattering and charming versions of Les Forts de Latour I can recall. Readers take note that Latour's third wine, simply labelled Pauillac, is also very successful in '09.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2009 Les Forts de Latour is engaging and quite complex on the nose with blackberry, bilberry, hints of brine and freshly rolled tobacco, all very well delineated and gaining vigor with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with fine but firm tannin that frame layers of black fruit laced with pencil lead and tobacco, very convincing on the finish that has one of the longest lengths of any Pauillac in this flight. Excellent. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Ruby-red. Pungently fragrant aromas of blackcurrant and cedar complicated by quinine and bay leaf. Rich, dense and suave, with rather brooding flavors of blackberry, plum liqueur, aromatic herbs and forest floor. This has shut down since the Primeurs and will need patience. Lacks only the generosity of the grand vin but should be outstanding. And it's a remarkable second wine.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2009 Les Forts de Latour shows the richness of the vintage in its dark, slightly roasted flavors. Ample and sumptuous in the glass, the 2009 drinks well now, but it also gives the impression of limited upside, so I would not hang on to it for more than a handful of years. Mocha, espresso, dark fruit and spices add to a feeling of weight and power.
Reviewed by: James Suckling
Deep and dark with a ton of smoke and earth, the cassis fruit very much in the background, this is a concentrated and complex wine. Powerful yet racy palate with an elegant mineral finish. Drink or hold. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019)
About the Producer
Latour was a jointly held lord's domain until the end of the 16th century, At that time, the property was not entirely covered by vines and yet production largely exceeded requirements. There was no proper storage for the wine and it had to be drunk within the year. The estate remained in the hands of the Mullet family until the late 17th century, and while direct use of the land gradually replaced the leasing system, the wine-making situation changed very little. In the early 18th century, England's aristocracy and wealthy middle classes developed refined tastes, particularly for wine, from Bordeaux, Oporto, Jerez and other southern vineyards. Wine exports had been restricted by various blockades imposed by the wars, but now enjoyed a period of relative freedom and trade with Bordeaux grew rapidly. As a result of this flourishing trade, the estate gradually came to specialise in wine production, with 38 hectares of vines in 1759 and then 47 hectares by 1794.
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Package Size
12 x 75cl
