Château Latour 2018

A solid and statuesque Latour with an extremely dense yet refined center palate of steely tannins and lots of blue fruit and an undertone of graphite. Some slate, too. It’s tight and very powerful. Reminds me of the texture of the 1959 (which I didn’t taste in barrel!) But the density here is so, so long. Steely.

(91 Cabernet Sauvignon, 9 Merlot) | 14.3% alc | This wine represents 37% of production | 81 IPT Another incredibly high Cabernet percentage at Latour and this time the power and muscle is very evident. There is little beauty here, just structure and brawn and there is a sour note on account of the ripeness of the skins which warns the taster away. Hints of exoticism can be seen but they are quickly ushered away – mere fripperies, not to be trifled with. The calibre of Cabernet here is awe-inspiring but it is equally mono-tonal in its delivery and so we must be exceptionally patient to allow these defences to start to give way. I anticipate that this wine will not start drinking this side of 2035, by which time I am sure it will have been made available for sale. I can sense that there is an awful lot of potential here, but I don’t think that it is quite as stellar as the 2010 or my perfect-scoring 2016.