Château Latour, 2017
Château Latour, 2017
- 75cl
- 13.5%
- Red Still
- Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc
- Organic
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Optimal drinking window: 2030 - 2055
Est. delivery in late summer, 2026
Château Latour needs no introduction. This is Pauillac royalty, the most powerful and long-lived of the first growths, from vines planted on deep Günzian gravel that have been making wine for centuries. The 2017 comes from a vintage that started wet but finished gloriously, giving wines of surprising concentration and classical structure.
We find this vintage typically Latour in its aristocratic restraint and iron backbone, but with more accessible fruit than the famously austere 2010 or 2016. The blend is predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot, plus small amounts of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. It's a wine that whispers rather than shouts, but what it's saying will echo for decades. Best cellared until 2030, drinking beautifully until 2055.
What the critics say:
"Ripe and very powerful aromas of black licorice, currants and violets. Full-bodied, dense and flavorful with lots of very new, flashy wood. Sexy and gorgeous. Round and polished tannins. Superb wine for the vintage."
The Latour vineyard sits on a remarkable outcrop of deep Günzian gravel over clay, with exceptional drainage and heat retention. These ancient river stones, some as large as tennis balls, force the vines to dig deep while storing warmth that ripens the Cabernet Sauvignon even in challenging years. The famous Enclos, a walled 47-hectare plot around the château, enjoys a slight elevation and perfect south-eastern exposure. This terroir produces wines of almost mineral-like precision, with tannins that seem carved from granite.
Pauillac is the mightiest of the Médoc's appellations, home to three of Bordeaux's five first growths. The deep gravel soils and proximity to the Gironde estuary create perfect conditions for Cabernet Sauvignon, which dominates the blends here more than anywhere else in Bordeaux. Pauillac wines are known for their power, longevity, and distinctive cassis character, with Latour representing the appellation's most structured and age-worthy expression. The AOC rules permit the classic Bordeaux varieties, but it's Cabernet Sauvignon that defines the commune's character.
The 2017 growing season in Bordeaux reads like a masterclass in how vines adapt to extremes. April frost damaged budbreak across the region, reducing yields significantly, then July and August delivered serious heat that pushed ripening along at pace. The saving grace came with cooler nights and a perfectly timed return to moderate conditions in September, allowing whatever fruit remained to develop proper balance rather than simply racing to sugar.
What emerged was a vintage of surprising concentration—not because the fruit was inherently powerful, but because there was simply less of it to go around. The Cabernets, particularly Cabernet Sauvignon, show real intensity without the hard edges that scorching summers often produce, while Merlot varies more dramatically depending on terroir and timing. We find these wines drinking beautifully now, offering immediate pleasure with their forward fruit and supple tannins, though the better examples will happily cruise until 2030. This isn't a vintage for the cellar obsessives, but for those who actually open bottles.
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