1970 Château Latour Grand Vin Pauillac Bordeaux France Wine Tasting Note

Of course, with wines of this age, it is all about the bottle, and this bottle was gorgeous. Concentrated, powerful, intense, vibrant, full, and long, the deep, chewy finish was loaded with currants, tobacco, spice, and herbs. Drink from 2023-2032.

3,556 Views   Tasted Jul 4, 2023

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Obviously, as wines age, especially once they are over 20, let alone 50 years old, there are no great wines, only great bottles. This is by far, the best bottle of 1970 Latour I have ever tasted. Just sublime in every way. Full-bodied, concentrated, ripe, sweet, fresh, earthy, and packed to the gills with sweet cassis, black currants, cedar, tobacco leaf, cigar box, herbs, forest leaf, and spice. The perfect blend of regal, refined, and austere, with a seemingly, non-stop finish. Decanted maybe 10-20 minutes, and enjoyed for as long as it lasted in our glasses.

My scores for this seem to go up and down quite a bit, which I am sure has more to do with storage for the past several decades than not. That being said, this bottle was a gem. Powerful, intense, long, stoic, stern, and yet refined, this is showing true Pauillac character with all its layers of cassis, currants, tobacco, crushed rocks, cedar and cigar box notes.

Note, I have tasted better bottles, but it is what it is. Still, there was something going worth paying attention to. The rustic, firm, slightly strict masculine, yet refined Pauillac sensibility was all there. Tobacco, cassis, cedar, lead pencil, earth, smoke and cigar wrapper notes turned the nose into the best part of the wine.

Bottle variation is to be expected with wines that are 45 years of age. We were more than lucky with this bottle as it was the best example of 1970 Latour tasted in ages. Cedar, tobacco, cassis, cigar box and ash aromatics were all over the place. The wine was still fresh, the tannins were resolved and the finish combined hints of rusticity with elegance, it was long and the fruit was sweet.

There is a fresh and lively quality to crisp, crunchy cassis fruit that I quite like, But there is a stern quality to the tannins, coupled with an austere quality to the leafy, tapenade and red fruit in the finish that detracts. I think this was probably not a perfect bottle, as it was good, but more old school than I recall based on how the last bottle I tasted showed.

One of the best bottles I've tasted in years, the developed nose offers wet earth, tobacco, burning wood, cedar, stone, cassis, cigar wrapper and cherries. There is a slight tart edge to the fruit with some herb, cedar and forest floor notes that tasters who do not truly enjoy old school Bordeaux at its best, could find off putting. There is probably no real reason to hold this wine any longer, even though there is no hurry to drink it.

Once again that chestnut of wisdom rang true, “After 20 years, there are no great wines, just great bottles.” I’ve enjoyed better bottles of 1970 Latour and I’ve tasted worse examples, this was in the middle. Still dark in color with bricking around the edges, the nose was packed with cedar, gravel, tar, blackberry, earth, cassis and tobacco scents. While the wine was powerful and concentrated, there was a touch of bitterness in the tannic finish. Was it the wine, or the bottle? There’s only one way to know for sure and that’s to pop another bottle.

Cedar wood, tobacco, forest floor, cigar box, black currant, iron and truffle started off the mature aromatics. Full bodied, concentrated and showing depth of flavor, the wine ended with a refined, masculine, classic, long, spicy cassis finish.

Depending on how the wine in question shows, bottle variation is either part of the fun, or the most frustrating aspect of the hobby. In this case, is the 1970 Latour a tannic, masculine, asutere styled wine? Or is it a powerful, refined Bordeaux with true Pauillac character? Bacchus was with us, because this was the best 1970 Latour I've had in ages! Crushed gravel, cassis, tobacco, smoke, truffle, blackberry, walnuts, forest floor and 5 Spice aromas were all over the place. Big, dense and chewy, this powerful Bordeaux wine commanded your attention. Most of the tannins have faded and this wine has developed wonderful complexities. It's not shy. Instead, it's power with refinement in a glass. Depending on the bottle, this could improve with age.

Deep ruby color. Exotic oriental spice. coffee, cedar, mocha, leather, soy and intense mineral essences topped off with sweet caramel flowed from the glass. This wine is huge, balanced, masculine in style, but dapper as well. This mature claret offers a big, juicy mouthful of rich, ripe cassis, black cherry and iron. A slight bitter note hits the back of the mouth in the finish.

Wow, nothing hits the spot like a great, mature Bordeaux. Dark, ruby with light edges. Notes of tobacco, cherries, cassis, wood, spice and earth fill your senses. Great mouth feel and texture. Long, slightly dusty finish in the beefy wine.

Very serious juice! It had a huge nose of black fruits, cassis, cedar and walnuts. It was fat, rich and had a finish that wouldn't quit. Still young, vibrant and full of life. Great wine!