1975 Château Latour Grand Vin Pauillac Bordeaux France Wine Tasting Note
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Firm, masculine and old school in style, the wine offers what you'd expect in an older Pauillac, with its cassis, lead pencil, tobacco, cigar box and earthy character. There is depth to the fruit, along with some roughness to the tannins, but that does not take anything away from its charm. The wine is mature and ready to drink. This bottle was decanted about 2 hours before serving, which helped soften its tough nature. 6,336 Views Tasted Dec 14, 2015Much better on the nose than the palate with its tobacco, smoke, earth and cassis profile. There was an element of cold steel along with its hard, austere, brawny profile. Masculine in character, and still tannic, the wine lacks the charm and polished elegance that is often found in Latour. While it’s popular to claim vintages like this need time, at close to 40 years of age, it is, what it is. Granted, I’ve tasted better bottles, but it’s a vintage of Chateau Latour I’d look to buy today. On the bright side, with this much tannin remaining, there is no hurry to drink it. 6,340 Views Tasted Nov 22, 2012Iron, smoke, cassis, cigar wrapper, ceddar and forest scents combine with a powerful, beefy, tannic and masculine styled wine. Beefy and brawny, this old school styled wine is in its prime. 9,314 Views Tasted May 15, 20111975 Latour offered truffles, tobacco, cassis, blackberry, cigar and earthy aromas. Lean and angular, this austere wine lacked charm. I've tasted better bottles of this wine, but it's not a wine I'd buy a case of, hoping for a great Latour experience. 10,957 Views Tasted Sep 15, 2010Very tannic, IMO, more tannin than fruit. Lacking in elegance,with an austere texture. 3,968 Views Tasted Sep 15, 2003 |
When to Drink Chateau Latour, Anticipated Maturity, Decanting Time
Chateau Latour is not a wine to drink on the young side. The wine is usually far too tannic, powerful and reserved during its youth. Young vintages can be decanted for an average of 3-6 hours, give or take. This allows the wine to soften and open its perfume. Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment.
Chateau Latour is usually better with at least 15 years of bottle age. Of course, that can vary slightly, depending on the vintage character. Chateau Latour offers its best drinking and should reach peak maturity between 18 and 60 years of age after the vintage.
Serving Chateau Latour with Wine and Food Pairings
Chateau Latour is best served at 15.5 degrees Celsius, 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The cool, almost cellar temperature gives the wine more freshness and lift.
Chateau Latour is best paired with all types of classic meat dishes, veal, pork, beef, lamb, duck, game, roast chicken, roasted, braised and grilled dishes. Chateau Latour is also good when matched with Asian dishes, rich fish courses like tuna, mushrooms and pasta.
In 2011, Chateau Latour added to their holdings in Pauillac when they purchased the 4-hectare vineyard of Chateau La Becasse from the Fonteneau family. The vines are used for the production of Forts de Latour.
Chateau Latour became one of the first major Bordeaux chateaus to embrace anti-counterfeiting measures with the use of the Prooftag system which is in place on the label, bottle and capsule of all future and current releases.
In 2015, Chateau Latour completed renovations which included new offices, tasting rooms and cellars. In fact, Chateau Latour became the first estate in the Medoc to maintain a cellar solely devoted to keeping magnums and other large-format bottling's dating back to 1900. The new cellars were a necessity as they allowed Latour to retain vast stocks of wines, for later releases.
The Pinault family also own other wineries through their holding company the Artemis Group. In Burgundy, they own Domaine d’Eugenie, previously known as Domaine Rene Engel. The vines are located in the Vosne Romanee appellation in the Cote de Nuits. Late 2017, marked another addition to their holdings in Burgundy when they purchased Clos de Tart for a record-setting price of more than 30 Million Euros per hectare!
In the Northern Rhone Valley, they own Chateau Grillet, which prior to their recent sale had been owned by the same family since 1830!
In July 2013, the family added to their list of vineyards with the purchase of Araujo Estate wines, in the Napa Valley. Araujo has since been renamed Eisele Vineyards. The following year, in 2014, The Artemis Group made their first purchase in the Right Bank, when they invested in Chateau Vray Croix de Gay, Pomerol, Chateau Siaurac, which is located in the Lalande de Pomerol appellation and Chateau Le Prieure in St. Emilion. They sold all their Right Bank vineyards, September 2020 to Suravenir Insurance, the owner of Chateau Calon Segur.