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Latour 1998

Pauillac, First Growth

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Units Size GBP Price: Quantities Buy
Scores:
Wine Advocate Wine Spectator Burghound Jancis Robinson.com International Wine Cellar
90 90 - 18 - 19 91
Tasting Notes:

Plenty of raspberry, dark chocolate and mint on the nose. Full-bodied, with licorice and sweet tobacco character and a cedar undertone. Outstanding.

Score: 90 James Suckling, Wine Spectator Date: Thursday 01 January 2009

Minerals and savour and sappiness. Certainly nothing as simple as fruit! Although in this vintage Latour does not outshine the others as obviously as in some more recent years. Really sappy perfume. Great rich spread across the palate is impressive. Density and energy. Dry finish. Good lift. Suitably dense and very mineral. But polished too.

Score: 18 - 19 Jancis Robinson MW, Jancisrobinson.com Maturity: 2013-2028 Date: Monday 07 April 2008

Red-ruby. Deep aromas of cassis, licorice and lead pencil. Deeper than Les Forts but currently rather mute in the middle. Strongly minerally. Offers classic Latour structure and spine. Finishes with sneaky, subtle persistence. (91+ points)

Score: 91 Stephen Tanzer, International Wine Cellar Date: Tuesday 01 May 2001

Not a blockbuster, the 1998 possesses a dark garnet/purple color in addition to a complex bouquet of underbrush, cedar, walnuts, and licorice-tinged black currants. Although medium to full-bodied and moderately tannic, it lacks the expansiveness in the mid-palate necessary to be truly great. Moreover, the tannin is slightly aggressive, although that is hardly unusual in such a young Latour.

Score: 90 Robert Parker, Wine Advocate Maturity: 2009-2030 Date: Sunday 01 April 2001

This opaque ruby/purple-colored, closed 1998 reveals some of the vintage's tell-tale harsh tannin in the finish. There are abundant quantities of ripe black currant fruit, medium body, and a sweet attack, but a narrow, tough finish. The wine should be outstanding, but it is a firmly-structured Latour.

Score: 89 - 91 Robert Parker, Wine Advocate Maturity: 2007-2025 Date: Saturday 01 April 2000

Latour's harvest occurred between September 22 and October 5. As my vintage report indicated, that is a period of considerable precipitation. Fifty-nine percent of the production was included in the grand vin, and the final blend consisted of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot. The 1998 is a refined, elegant offering with a dark ruby color, sweet cassis fruit, attractive fat, surprisingly soft tannin, and a good finish. There is firmness and muscle in the background, but this is not an enormous or powerful Latour. However, it is very pure, with the vineyard's mineral/black fruit character presented in a medium-weight format.

Score: 89 - 91 Robert Parker, Wine Advocate Maturity: 2007-2025 Date: Friday 30 April 1999