Ch.Latour 2005 ex-ch 750ml

Wine Advocate #241, Mar 01, 2019 by Lisa Perotti-Brown
2005 was a very dry, warm and sunny vintage, causing vine stress in some areas of Bordeaux. Harvested from September 26 to October 6, the tannin/IPT levels were very high this year. The 2005 Latour is blended of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, with the rest Merlot and Petit Verdot. It is the biggest surprise of this tasting - until now, the wine was relatively closed and broody, but today the wine is just starting to reveal its personality - and what a stunner! Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it opens with provocative floral scents of roses and violets over a core of fresh blackcurrants, chocolate-covered cherries and black raspberries with hints of fertile loam, unsmoked cigars and black tea. Medium to full-bodied, firm, grainy and packed with muscular fruit, it has an epically long, savory finish sparked by floral notes. 12,000 cases were made.

Château Latour is one of Bordeaux's – and the world's – most famous wine producers. It is situated in the southeast corner of the Pauillac commune on the border of Saint-Julien, in the Médoc region. Rated as a First Growth in the 1855 Bordeaux Classification, it has become one of the most sought-after and expensive wine producers on the planet, and produces powerfully structured Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant wines capable of lasting many decades.
Latour's development as a single property came with the beginning of a long unbroken period of connected family ownership, based around the de Segur name, also associated with Mouton and Calon-Ségur. This began in 1670 and lasted 290 years, although after the French Revolution Latour was divided up and not fully reunited until 1841. The château is currently owned by Francois Pinault and is part of his Groupe Artemis.
Typically for the region, Cabernet Sauvignon dominates in the vineyard, accounting for around 80 percent of plantings. Merlot makes up most of the remainder, and there are also small amounts of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The grand vin is only made from the vineyard plots surrounding the chateau and shown on the 1759 plan of the domaine. Latour makes two other wines: Les Forts de Latour and Pauillac de Latour, both of which are made from younger vines.

Meats, Beef and Venison