Tasting Notes
Vinous 98.5/100
The 2009 Latour is very classic in style with black fruit, undergrowth, cedar, graphite and smoke, although I find at the moment, the 2009 Mouton-Rothschild has a tad more complexity. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, a fine line of acidity, linear and focused, more controlled than Mouton-Rothschild but determined to exert its own terroir over the imprimatur of the growing season. This is an outstanding Latour with ineffable depth and breeding, but the 2010 Latour might well turn out better. Tasted at BI Wines & Spirits’ Ten Year On tasting.
Anticipated maturity: 2024-2070
Robert Parker 100
A blend of 91.3% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8.7% Merlot with just under 14% natural alcohol, the 2009 Latour is basically a clone of the super 2003, only more structured and potentially more massive and long lived. An elixir of momentous proportions, it boasts a dense purple color as well as an extraordinarily flamboyant bouquet of black fruits, graphite, crushed rocks, subtle oak and a notion of wet steel. It hits the palate with a thundering concoction of thick, juicy blue and black fruits, lead pencil shavings and a chalky minerality. Full-bodied, but very fresh with a finish that lasts over a minute, this is one of the most remarkable young wines I have ever tasted. Will it last one-hundred years? No doubt about it. Can it be drunk in a decade? For sure.
JancisRobinson.com 19/20
Tasted blind. Lustrous deep crimson. Sweet yet refined. Recalls juggling or tightrope-walking with its mixture of ripeness and freshness. Dry finish on wonderfully precise sweet fruit. Still very youthful. Clean. Highest average score ever! 19.24 because of five 20/20s.
Anticipated maturity: 2022-2050
