Château Latour 2011

At Château Latour, Cabernet Sauvignon is king.  The estate boasts the most plantings of this regal varietal out of all the First Growths at about 10,000 plants per hectare – that’s over 80% of its vineyard!  The wines of Château Latour possess everything a Cabernet-lover dreams about.  Raw, unbridled power, energy, stunning fruit, and of course – ageability.  Château Latour’s Grand Vin is one of the most age-worthy wines on the market, with the ability to lay down for decades.  

In fact, Latour wines are so robust, that in 2012 Château Latour made the radical decision to eliminate Futures and only release their wines when they were ready to drink.   It’s decisions like these – and many others – that put Château Latour in a league of its own.  The visionaries at this property do not rest on their laurels by any means.  Instead, they focus tirelessly on making innovative choices in their relentless pursuit of a perfect bottle, vintage after vintage.

Their instincts are often spot on- Château Latour is one of the most consistent First Growths on the market, producing knockout vintages year after year.

References to Château Latour date as far back to the 1300s, where its fortress served as a garrison during the 100 Year’s War.  The Château really became known for its wine legacy when Marquis de Ségur – whom Louis XV affectionately referred to as, “the Wine Prince,”– snapped up the property as an addition to his collection of legendary châteaux.  It seemed Marquis de Ségur had the magic touch, considering he owned the second-to-none Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Mouton Rothschild and Château Calon Ségur as well.  During Marquis de Ségur’s ownership, the Château experienced a golden age and rose to prominence, earning its First Growth title during the 1855 Classification.   

Château Latour has often stood at the forefront of vineyard management with cutting-edge practices.  In 1965, they were one of the first châteaux to introduce stainless steel vats to the fermentation process.  In 2008, they reassessed their vineyard management processes and decided to implement horses to plough the soil.  Château Latour is one of the leading châteaux in terms of organic winemaking and obtained their organic certification from Ecocert in 2015.  For some of the choicest parcels, the château uses Biodynamic philosophies and curates each vintage based on the weather conditions and lunar calendar.   There is no end to the amount of energy, resources, and time the winemaking team at Château Latour will put into ensuring the best harvest is brought to bottle. 

The wines of Château Latour are considered standouts in unremarkable years and in great years, they are considered legendary.

"A blend of 84.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and 0.5% Petit Verdot, the 2011 Latour represents only 34% of the crop. It hit 13.1% natural alcohol. One of the vintage's most compelling wines, it possesses a dense ruby/purple color as well as a sweet, open-knit personality with ripe tannin, superb intensity, good purity and harmony, a medium to full-bodied mouthfeel, and lots of crushed rock, floral and black as well as blue fruit notes in addition to hints of ink and forest floor. This beautifully rich, savory Latour will be surprisingly drinkable in 4-5 years, and should age easily for two decades or more.

By the way, Latour harvested relatively late for the Medoc, beginning the harvest on September 12 and finishing on September 26." - Robert Parker Jr, The Wine Advocate (4/25/2012, Issue 200), Ratings: 93-95, Drink: 2016-2036