Ok... Another day, 10 more bottles of Latour. This was a trade tasting, so it was a bit more technical/geeky than the dinner Wednesday night and only tasted from 1 bottle. First, the 2003 Pauillac (Latour's 3rd Wine) was a jammy, cocoa, dried prune Latour fruit bomb - tasted a lot of merlot... 50% Merlot, 50% Cab. Nice to drink, but it's not Latour, nor is it Les Forts. The 2003 Les Forts de Latour showed almost exactly as it did yesterday with mocha, toffee, sweet, ripe tannins, and plums. Jammy... The 2001 Les Forts de Latour was very clean, bright, balanced, in a classic Latour style. Some dried fruits, but exceptionally pure. The 2000 Les Forts de Latour showed better than at the tasting Wednesday night. This wine is opaque with black fruits - plums, blackcurrants, and loads of earth. Very soft, round tannins but still slightly closed. Very long finish (better than 03). The 1996 Les Forts de Latour was a little weaker. Slightly herbal with black olives, this wine was showing cedar and cigar box, tobacco and a touch of stewy fruit (?). Not quite as open nor as elegant as Wednesday.
More Latour... First, retasted a few opened bottles from the night before (24 hours opened). The 2002 Chateau Latour was every bit the almost exact same wine as before. Just a few more hints of evolution. Simply stunning. The 2003 hadn't changed a bit either. The 1966 was nearly dead with most of the fruit gone. The 1990 was beautiful... absolutely gorgeous. Stayed the night just fine...
Now, fresh bottles. The 2002 Chateau Latour showed every bit as good as Wednesday night with sweet fruit, earthiness, round tannins, violets, and plums with absolutely magnificent length and perfect balance throughout. Awesome as it completely fills your mouth. The 2000 Chateau Latour was completely closed. Even after 45 minutes in the glass it was very hard to get anything out of this wine. This wine is completely opaque. Loads of tannins on the back, and the fruit muted. The bottle was in perfect condition, it just didn't show much. Some black fruits, graphite, anise, tobacco. A very, very long finish. Give this at least 10 (++) years before cracking one open. The 1999 Chateau Latour again showed much the same as previously, with more crushed stones. Not a great Latour, but not bad to drink! The 1995 Chateau Latour had a nose of black olives, and was starting to show cedar and cigar box aromas with very dried fruits - cherries and plums. Very earthy, and very high tannins. Msr. Engerer thinks this will outlast the 1996 and certainly pass it in terms of quality. We'll see... The 1990 Chateau Latour was magnificant. Perhaps better than any bottle of 1990 tasted Wednesday (perhaps 2nd best) this showed cedar, cigar box, tobacco, saddle leather, truffles, and that classic "salty" Latour finish. Very long, very sweet finish with loads of dried fruits. Definition of elegance with power. Does it get any better than this? This wine does need food though...
Anyway, an absolutely amazing 2 days. Simply tremendous. Cheers to Chateau Latour and to Frederic Engerer!
But alas... my heart will always lie in Burgundy. R and I were thinking about what we wanted to taste last night after all of those bottles of Latour. Bordeaux wouldn't do it. Had to be Burgundy. After a bottle of 1999 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne was oxidized, we opened the 2000 Domaine de la Vougeraie Vougeot 1er Cru Clos Blanc de Vougeot Monopole and it completely blew away any Bonneau Corton I've ever had! Full of fat, rich, butter with apricots, pears, and tons of minerals, this was a blockbuster. Outstanding length, very clean and pure. Awesome! The 2000 Bouchard La Romanee was a beautiful mass of dried strawberries and cherries, with a spicy, powerful terroir element. Decanted for 2 hours, this was a simply extraordinary wines. Although not in the same league in a great vintage, this wine was simply far more profound than the 2000 La Tache the other night. Has a great deal in common with Romanee-Conti. A wonderful wine.
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