1974 | Chteau Latour | Pauillac

Red Wine: 1974 | Chteau Latour | Pauillac

In this mediocre year of rather green, stalky, hollow wines, Latour produced one of the very best wines of the vintage. Still not fully mature, this dark ruby wine has good fruit, a medium body, surprising depth and ripeness for the vintage, and a sinewy, tannic finish.

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Producer: Chteau Latour

Ratings: DC | 97

Vintage: 1974

Size: 750ml

ABV: 14.3%

Varietal: Bordeaux Blend

Country/Region: France, Bordeaux

In this mediocre year of rather green, stalky, hollow wines, Latour produced one of the very best wines of the vintage. Still not fully mature, this dark ruby wine has good fruit, a medium body, surprising depth and ripeness for the vintage, and a sinewy, tannic finish.

Reviews:

• Doctorwine: This was the most intact wine of the whole tasting session. Its red color seemed unchanged, except for a tiny garnet nuance on the edge. The aroma was a bit compressed but well-structured with notes of tanned leather and extremely balsamic blackberry jam. The mouthfeel was better, austere and almost gnashing, prospective and engaging. After more than 40 years this wine can still knock you out.

Producer Information

Chteau 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 Mdoc 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. The site has been occupied since 1331, with a fort and garrison to guard the estuary. Several smallholdings began to grow vines, and wine from the site gained recognition from Montaigne as early as the 16th Century. The original tower no longer exists; the famous tower featured on the label was designed as a pigeon roost and built around 1620. Latour’s development as a single property came with the beginning of a long unbroken period of connected family ownership, based around the de Sgur name, also associated with Mouton and Calon-Sgur. This began in 1670 and lasted 290 years although, after the French Revolution, Latour was divided up and not fully reunited until 1841. The chteau has been owned by French billionaire Franois Pinault since 1993 and falls under the umbrella of his holding company, Groupe Artemis. Other notable Artemis possessions include the likes of Burgundy’s Le Clos de Tart (in Morey-Saint-Denis) and Domaine d’Eugnie (in Vosne-Romane), Chteau-Grillet in Condrieu, and Napa Valley’s Araujo Estate. The Latour estate courted controversy in 2012 when it announced through long-time director Frdric Engerer that it would no longer take part in Bordeaux’s En Primeur pre-release sales campaign (an annual installment for nearly all the major names in the region). Since 2012, the estate has shown no signs of going back on this decision.