Chateau Latour 2000

JAMES SUCKLING: "Latour has made truly great wines in the past two decades—and this is one of the best. It has fabulous aromas of black truffles, currants, raspberry and dried flowers. Mind-blowing on the palate, it’s an emotional and soulful red."

WEINWISSER: "Tiefes Violett, Granatschimmer, schwarze Reflexe. Bereits bewegend der erste Kontakt mit dem Bouquet, Cabernet pur, faszinierend, fast parfümierter Cassisduft, mächtiges, ausladendes Terroir, extrem vielschichtig, explosive, fast dramatische Aromatik. Im Gaumen reife Tannine, fleischiges Extrakt, ausuferndes, rot-, blau- und vor allem schwarzbeeriges Spiel, im Finale Trüffel, Mahagoni und Vanilleschote, erstaunliche Frische. Ein grandioser Wein, kein Bulldozer, aber total harmonisch, schlichtweg perfekt."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "Simply put, this is a future legendary vintage for Latour. This is thrilling to taste from start to finish. With incredible levels of concentration, the wine manages to keep everything in perfect balance, tannins, freshness, ripeness, weight, density and richness. The nose captures the essence of Pauillac, while the fullness in the mouth, with perfectly ripe, firm, but refined tannins give the wine shape, length propels the finish past the 60-second mark. 2 hours of air is more than ample to open the wine, and the remainder the night will show improvement in the glass. Drink from 2025-2075, or beyond."

WINE SPECTATOR: "The fruit here is still very much in the primary phase, with a decidedly racy feel to the raspberry coulis, cassis and blackberry reduction notes that are streaked with violet, iron and graphite flavors. The superlong finish alternates between a tug of sweet earth and a velvety feel, as the fruit and grip are still melding together, but there's so much vivacity here, there's no concern with waiting it out. The wait may be a while though. Rather stunning that this can separate itself so clearly from the rest of 2000's high-class field.--Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Best from 2020 through 2040. 14,167 cases made."

FALSTAFF: "Dunkles Rubingranat, violette Reflexe. Sehr feines Bukett, florale Nuancen, angenehme Beerenfrucht. Stoffig, sehr kraftvoll, perfekte Tannine, zart nach Edelschokolade, Beerenkonfit, herrliche Extraktsüße, ein Wein mit Riesenpotenzial, hier ist wirklich alles auf dem rechten Fleck, besitzt eine überzeugende Länge, enorme Zukunft, ein Kunstwerk."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "The 2000 Latour (a relatively abundant 14,000 cases compared to what they produced in 2009, 2008, or 2005) is “packed and stacked.” The extremely rich, black/purple color to the rim is followed by a wine with some subtle smoke, loads of minerals, a hint of vanilla, and plenty of creme de cassis as well as roasted meat and a slight scorched earth character. Broad, savory, and rich, the wine seems to be about 5 years away from full maturity and should drink well for at least 40-50 more years. A great effort, probably eclipsed only by 2003 and 2009."

DECANTER: "Hard not to be impressed by the sheer power and muscle on display in this Latour, very much archetypal of the estate at this time, seven years into François Pinault's tenure, with the team under director Frederic Engerer (he arrived in 1995, becoming director in 1998) doing everything they could do concentrate flavours, increase precision and texture. This is beautifully layered, with truffle-laced dark chocolate, espresso, tar and tight cassis flavours and exerts a powerful grip that is clearly going nowhere over the coming decades. A little less nuanced perhaps than today's Latour but this has 3% Petit Verdot that completes the blend. 48% of the overall crop in this wine. Drinking Window 2020 - 2050"

WINE ENTHUSIAST: "This is such an expressive wine, with elegance a major factor in its character. It is certainly huge, rich and dense. But there is much more to it. You can peel layers of fruit and tannins away, and still never get to the end of the wine's complexity. At every stage of its life, it will reveal a new character, but for now it is dominated by powerful tannins and huge, black, fruit."

JANCIS ROBINSON: "Very dark crimson with a developed rim. Healthy colour. Tight, intense, deeply focussed and confident. Slips over the front palate like a velvet glove – very opulent and extremely ripe – much more sophisticated than most. There’s so much ripeness here – as though Latour picked latest of all – almost spicy, almost in stereotype Mouton idiom, presumably thanks to the vintage rather than any change of policy or style at Latour. Great wine."