2007 Château Latour
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Tasting notes
Quite soft, but dark, almost purple core. Expressive and attractive nose – dark blackcurrant, fresh raspberry, plum, wax, graphite and a slight floral character. Some mineral and hints of earth evident after a decade in bottle. Elegant Pauillac. Layered and quite dense, but the whole profile of the wine is less ripe and concentrated than other recent counterparts (05, 08, 09…). Cedar, plums, cassis, liquorice, pencil lead, sweet spice, black pepper and mint notes add depth and complexity. Not the usual power or authoritative structure Latour normally possesses, particularly in youth, but a slightly softer, finer and more medium bodied example. Drinking wonderfully, this is definitely a vintage to have in the cellar and to approach whilst you wait for 2000s. A wine characterised by excellent freshness and delicacy, which puts it up there with the very best from 2007. Sep 2016
Critic scores
Robert Parker
Neal Martin
More reviews and scores
Surprisingly, the 2007 Latour has a bolder and more outgoing bouquet than other vintages from this era, adorned with plush blackberry, blueberry and boysenberry fruit, slightly more floral than its peers. There's a fine definition here. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, very well balanced, although not the most complex in the line-up. It tapers in a little toward the finish and is more austere, but it is still very pleasurable and one of the more approachable vintages of this era. Tasted blind from double magnum at a 20-year retrospective at the château.
Tasted at BI Wine & Spirits' 10-Years-On tasting, the 2007 Latour was late-released last year, and I reviewed it at that time. This bottle reaffirmed my remarks from a few months ago albeit here within the context of all the other First Growth. I noticed that it has slightly more intensity than the Lafite-Rothschild, a touch of menthol infusing the black fruit, certainly more exotic than the Lafite or Mouton with that subtle hint of black olive. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin. There is good muscle and weight to this Latour, with impressive tension and energy on the saline finish. It will drink well over the next 15 years, possibly longer. Tasted February 2017.
Magnum. Dark core with a wide, soft brick rim. Intense, fragrant, dark-red fruit. Savoury and almost dusty in a rocky minerality. Even a sour note on the palate, more elderberry than blackcurrant, tight and long. The tannins are very very fine, paper-fine and there’s terrific freshness in a more austere, dark style yet with a scented supple finish. (JH)
About the producer
One of Bordeaux’s five First Growths, as classified in 1855, Ch. Latour is among the most famous addresses in Pauillac and the world. The estate is renowned for its long-ageing, powerful and structured wines.