Chateau Latour 2017

JAMES SUCKLING: "Ripe and very powerful aromas of black licorice, currants and violets. Full-bodied, dense and flavorful with lots of very new, flashy wood. Sexy and gorgeous. Round and polished tannins. Superb wine for the vintage. Try after 2028."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "The 2017 Latour is a blend of 92.1% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7.8% Merlot and 0.1% Petit Verdot with 13.3% alcohol and an IPT of 66. Deep garnet-purple in color, it starts off a little broody before exploding from the glass with powerful scents of ripe blackcurrants, blackberry pie and preserved black cherries plus touches of cedar chest, fenugreek, cumin seed and charcoal with emerging wafts of violets, dark chocolate, star anise and fertile loam. Medium-bodied, this may be one of the most elegant, great Latours ever, revealing layer upon layer of fresh, crunchy black fruits with a vast array of exotic spice and floral nuances, framed by super ripe, super fine-grained tannins, finishing very long with mineral sparks coming through. This is so nuanced and perfumed that I imagine, in 50 years, this wine could be mistaken for a great red Burgundy."

DECANTER: "It's fairly unusual in 2017 to find the bright blue-violet reflections around the rim of the wine that you find in years like 2010 and 2016, but it is here in abundance. Still extremely young, knitted, closed up, holding tight to its cassis and bilberry fruits at this point. This was the first year when they were in full organics, although not certified until 2019. It's a big-framed Latour and you can see that it is going to need a good long while before softening its Pauillac tannins; at least a decade on this showing. Lovely rich deep flavours here with great dollops of black spice. It feels majestic and full of Latour signature of menthol, liquorice, slate and earth. One of the best 2017s tasted. 18 months ageing, building up to 100% new oak."

LISA PERROTTI-BROWN: "A blend of 92.1% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7.8% Merlot, and 0.1% Petit Verdot, the 2017 Latour has a deep garnet-purple color. It sashays out with showy notes of warm cassis, mulberries, and Morello cherries, followed by emerging tertiary hints of unsmoked cigars, rose oil, cardamom, and star anise, with a waft of iron ore. The medium-bodied palate is elegantly styled and mineral-laced, featuring loads of exotic sparks and velvety tannins, finishing on a lingering anise note. Beautiful! While it's in a nice place right now, another 2 to 4 years in bottle should allow for even more of this gorgeous, emerging perfume. It will easily cellar for another 30 years beyond that."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "Showing a caliginous hue, the wine is concentrated, full bodied, powerful, firm and graceful, coating your palate with layers of ripe, sweet, dark red fruits with salty tannins. Even with all the acidity it is impossible not to enjoy the ample sweet fruits, firm, ripe tannins, complexity and incredible length, with purity of fruit, that lingers. It's a Latour that should be a pleasure to taste between 15-20 years after the vintage, which is fine since you'll probably be waiting until 2027, give or take, until it's released. The wine was made from a blend of 92.1% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7.8% Merlot and 0.1% Petit Verdot, reaching 13% ABV. The harvest took place starting with the Merlot September 11, finishing with the Cabernet October 4."

WINE SPECTATOR: " A pure, sleek, seamless beauty, featuring a crystal-clear core of cassis, cherry and damson plum fruit racing along, glistening with lilac, iron and wet pebble notes. Shows terrific spine and clarity, with well-buried grip running throughout. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Best from 2025 through 2040."

WEINWISSER: "92,1 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 7,8 % Merlot, 0,1 % Petit Verdot. Sattes Granatrubin mit lila Schimmer. Komplexes rotbeeriges und tiefgründiges Bouquet mit Trüffel und Graphit. Im zweiten Ansatz schwarze Johannisbeeren, Pflaumenhaut und Flieder. Am konzentrierten und dichten Gaumen mit engmaschigem, reifem Tanningerüst und kühler Ausstrahlung, trotzdem elegant, geschliffen und mit enormer Präzision. Im gebündelten, sehr langanhaltenden Finale mit Wacholder, schwarzen Oliven, Eisenkraut und getrockneten Hagebutten sowie feiner Adstringenz. Ein Wein mit viel Substanz, der Zeit und Ruhe brauchen wird, um seine angedeutete Tiefe zu entwickeln, aber mit klarer Tendenz nach oben. 19+/20"

JEB DUNNUCK: "Based on 92.1% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7.8 % Merlot, and a splash of Petite Verdot, the 2017 Chateau Latour spent 16 months in new barrels and hit 13.3% natural alcohol with a pH 3.7 and an IPT of 66. It's a classic, ageworthy Latour offering a deep purple/ruby hue, textbook Latour graphite, lead pencil, minerality, and cassis-driven aromatics, building tannins, and a beautiful sense of power married to elegance. Flawlessly balanced, medium to full-bodied, and with the class that this estate is known for, hide bottles for 7-8 years and enjoy over the following 3-4 decades."

WINE ENTHUSIAST: "This wine's tannins are hugely rich and concentrated. They give what is also a fruity wine power, density and shape. Don't forget the fruits though, because they will be a powerhouse of richness as they mature. Drink this wine from 2024."

JANCIS ROBINSON: "Tasted blind. Deep ruby colour. Subtle and fragrant nose with wonderfully delineated black fruit and savoury spice. The impression is savoury yet youthful. Intense drive and focus is immediate on the palate. There is such energy and vibrancy yet the cassis fruit at the core remains ripe and rich. Mouth-coating tannins would detract from this refinement if it weren’t for their ripe and fine-grained nature. A remarkable feat in this vintage to find such ripeness and structure without excess. Harmonious and long. "