2017 Chateau Latour 'Les Forts de Latour', Pauillac, France (750ml)

WINEMAKER'S NOTES:

Les Forts de Latour is produced with the same meticulous care as the Grand Vin, both in the vineyard and in the winery. The only notable difference, apart from the origin of the grapes, is the proportion of new barrels (50 to 60%) used in the maturing stage.
The blend for Forts de Latour can vary from one year to the next but there is always a higher proportion of Merlot (25 to 30%) compared to the Grand Vin.

TASTING NOTES:

This is really minerally with crushed stones and dark berries. Some licorice. Medium to full body, firm and silky tannins and a beautiful, tight and focused finish. Such energy, delivered down a straight line. Barrel Sample: 94-95

- James Suckling, 95 pts. 

A blend of 65.2% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 0.8% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, the 2017 Les Forts de Latour is deep garnet-purple in color and strides confidently out of the glass with classic notes of plum preserves, warm cassis and pencil shavings with nuances of mulberries, pencil lead, Indian spices and forest floor. Medium-bodied, the palate packs a lot of fruit into a very elegant, tightly knit palate, delivering expressive blackberry and spicy flavors with a firm frame of grainy tannins and bold freshness, finishing long with a peppery kick.

- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 94 pts. 

This bold, structured wine is packed with blackberry fruits and ripe tannins. Freshness and structure from the Cabernet Sauvignon are very present, giving a crisp edge to the solid backbone. This is a wine for aging. Don't drink before 2023.

- Wine Enthusiast, 94 pts. 

Bright and fresh, featuring floral, cassis and plum aromas and flavors allied to a sleek, iron-tinged frame. Racy tension through the finish lets the fruit play out while the minerality blossoms. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2022 through 2038.

- Wine Spectator, 93 pts. 

A step up, the 2017 Les Forts De Latour includes more Cabernet Sauvignon and is 65.2% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, and the balance Petit Verdot and a splash of Cabernet Franc. Creme de cassis, unsmoked tobacco, damp earth, and a touch of cedar pencil all emerge from the glass, and it's beautifully textured and medium to full-bodied, with terrific purity and a great finish. While it's a second wine, I suspect it will evolve for 20-30 years.

- Jeb Dunnuck, 93 pts. 

I love what technical director Hélène Génin is doing here, it's full of power and finesse. As with its neighbours, Latour found the rains in June extremely helpful, the ones of September a little less so, and two of the plots normally used for the grand vin are in Forts this year. The overall feel of the wine is sculpted, not soft but with give in those tannins that makes the overall texture bouncy and vibrant. There's a little less press wine than in a normal year (7% compared to 9%), and it should be ready to drink in six to eight years, a little earlier than both the 2015 and 2016. It feels close to the 2014 in character, but with higher aromatics. 45% of overall production.

- Decanter, 92 pts.