Wine Advisor
Pauillac de Latour 2008
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Description
This wine has been made every year since 1989, and was developed primarily for the restaurant market. The Pauillac is made primarily from young vines, growing on the less prestigious terroirs in the vineyard, and from wines that do not meet the selection criteria for Forts de Latour (specific to each vintage). About 20% new barrels are used in the vinification of the Pauillac, the precise proportion varying depending on the characteristics of the vintage. The blend for Château Latour’s Pauillac typically consists of nearly 45% Merlot. This generous, fruity wine is an excellent introduction to the family of wines produced by Château Latour. It can be enjoyed after four to five years of ageing, and will continue to improve for several more years.
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2008 Latour is dark, brooding and virile, with huge tannins that convey an impression of gravitas. Grilled herbs, leather, sweet pipe tobacco, iron and cedar add to the wine's distinctive aromatic complexity. There is plenty of density and richness, but the color and slightly advanced flavor profile are a bit out of character. Ideally, at this stage Latour should exhibit more freshness and vibrancy. Of course, it is possible the 2008 might remain at this plateau for many years to come. Time will tell. The blend is 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot and drops of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.
Reviewed by: Ian d'Agata
(94% cabernet sauvignon, 5% merlot, and 1% cabernet franc and petit verdot; the selection for the grand vin was just 40% of total production) Opaque ruby-purple. Very intense, pure aromas of blackcurrant, cedar and graphite are complicated by hints of balsamic vinegar and licorice. Enters the mouth quite full, with the middle palate displaying rich flavors of blackcurrant, blackberry syrup and minerals. A beautiful and very precise version of Latour with impeccable balance and deceptive power. The harmonious acids extend the fruit and herbal flavors impressively on the very long, clean finish. This year's high proportion of cabernet sauvignon is a record for Latour (though '07 and '06 were nearly as high). Estate manager Frederic Engerer told me that he and his team tasted the various single-parcel lots over and over, and even though they felt the quality of some of the old-vine merlot was excellent, they didn't like the way it jelled with the cabernet sauvignon, and thus the merlot went into Les Forts de Latour. Along with Leoville-Las Cases and Haut Brion, Latour is an early candidate for wine of the vintage, and one of the three best wines of the Left Bank in '08.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2008 Latour has a more bold and concentrated bouquet compared to the Lafite-Rothschild, scents of blackberry, bilberry, iris, cigar humidor and cold wet stone that all surge from the glass. This is beautifully defined. The palate is medium-bodied with firm in tannin, a light marine influence infusing the black fruit, a little spice towards the finish with superb persistency. It is an authorative Latour as usual, one now beginning to enter its stride although naturally it will last for two or three decades with ease. (Tasted at BI Wine & Spirit’s annual 10-Year On tasting.)
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Saturated ruby-red. Subdued but wonderfully pure nose hints at black cherry, graphite, tobacco, licorice, black olive and crushed stone. Lush, sweet and deep, with terrific energy and early sex appeal to the dark berry, spice and vanilla flavors. The sweetness builds on the very long aftertaste, where the solid tannins are in perfect harmony with the wine's fruit. Leaves a black cherry perfume in the retronasal passage. Likely to be one of the vintage's longest-lived examples.
About the Producer
Château Latour is located in the heart of the Médoc wine region, about 50 km north-west of Bordeaux, where the legend of the vineyards of Bordeaux began. The château's prime terroir, l’Enclos, overlooks the Gironde estuary: it is the river and the ocean that, over the centuries, have given the vineyard its geological complexity and, on a daily basis, ensure a mild climate. Château Latour’s superb location, just 300 metres from the estuary, gives it its special character and tempers any extreme weather conditions, especially spells of severe cold or frost, as for example in 1991. There are two factors that have a benign influence: • The proximity of the Atlantic, bringing the generosity of an ocean climate; • The immediate proximity of a large mass of water in the form of the estuary, protecting against possible cold spells early in the growth cycle and also enabling earlier ripening of the grapes, which can be an important factor as the harvests approach.
