1962 Château Latour

The 1962 Latour can give the legendary previous vintage a run for its money. This bottle is one of the best I have encountered. Deeper in color than its peers, it has much more concentration on the nose, showing an array of dark plum, graphite and cedar before revealing its exotic side, with more kirsch and desiccated oranges. The palate is medium-bodied, with a sweet core of dark fruit infused with pencil lead, allspice and hints of meat juices. Its utterly compelling finish goes on and on. Majestic. (NM)

The 1962 Latour is quite opulent and ravishing for the vintage, it blossoms quicker than the bottle that I tasted last year, those trademark graphite notes almost immediately replaced by more exotic hints of kirsch and quince that I normally associate with white wines. I also notice a hint of morels with continued aeration. The palate is beautifully balanced, with perfect acidity, plenty of black fruit after 56 years, allspice and hints of dried blood, almost Right Bank in style. Perhaps unlike the previous bottle, it does not step up a gear with aeration but cruises along at high altitude. The 1962 Latour remains a marvellous Latour that will offer many more years of drinking pleasure subject to provenance. Tasted from a bottle bought on release and tasted at “Brat” restaurant in London.

The 1962 Latour is the insiders’ pick of the sixties: cheaper than the 1961 however, to be truly honest, not that far behind in terms of quality. This example has a very youthful colour with slight bricking on the rim. The nose was just a bit muddled for the first 60 minutes however, it clarifies with aeration to reveal rich blackberry, raspberry preserve, cedar and graphite notes, as usual quite precocious and eventual vivid. There is a second phase of aromas - Japanese yuzu, quince and kirsch. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, very impressive weight with blackberry, soy, graphite, allspice and a touch of dried blood on the finish. This improves with aeration, gaining harmony and sophistication with every passing moment until the point where I am convinced that it is the best bottle of ‘62 Latour I have ever encountered. Tasted at the Latour dinner in Hong Kong.