Latour 2017 is the First Growth’s youngest Grand Vin on the market since leaving the Bordeaux En Primeur system in 2012. Latour 2017’s stellar ratings place it in the same class as the 2015 vintage released last year, but is significantly more astutely priced than its lauded predecessor, presenting a golden opportunity for shrewd buyers to secure an exceptional release before the highly anticipated launch of the 2016 vintage.

Receiving a quartet of 98-point scores, Wine Advocate, Lisa Perrotti-Brown calls it “one of the most elegant, great Latours ever” that is “so nuanced and perfumed that I imagined, in 50 years, this wine could be mistaken for a great red Burgundy,” while Georgie Hindle of Decanter asserts its “a wine that knocks it out of the park and one so representative of Bordeaux and the Pauillac terroir.”

Tasting Note: Château Latour 2017 is concentrated and full bodied, with a magnificent aromatic spectrum of black cherry and blackcurrant combined with fresher notes of chalk, tobacco and olive. Precise, structured tannins on a dense, deep palate make this a powerful wine with energy and balance that convey refinement and freshness.

The Wine Advocate | RP 98
Published: Mar 16, 2020

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.
Drink Date: 2026 – 2075

Jamessuckling.com | JS 99
Published: Friday, January 10, 2020

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.