Le Pauillac de Latour 2000 750ml

Wine Advocate #146, Apr 23, 2003 by Robert Parker Jr
P.S. Little has been made (just under 4,000 cases), but Latour produces a generic wine under the Pauillac name that sports a label not dissimilar from the labels of Forts de Latour and Latour. The outstanding, gorgeous 2000 Pauillac (89) offers delicious ripe, berry fruit, sweet tannin, and loads of character. Readers who have access to this wine would be well-advised to try it. It is best consumed during its first 7-10 years of life.

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, Lamb