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2012 Château Latour

Light label condition issue

Minimum Bid is $525
Ends Sunday, 7pm Pacific

ITEM 10589085 - Removed from a temperature and humidity controlled wine storage unit

Bidder Amount Total
$525
2012 Château Latour

RATINGS

96+ The Wine Advocate

Medium-bodied, the palate delivers mouth-coating black and red fruit preserves with a firm, grainy-textured frame and fantastic freshness, finishing with a veritable firework display of lingering spices and minerals. This is a more restrained, relatively elegant vintage of Latour that may not have that “iron fist in a velvet glove” power of the greatest vintages but nonetheless struts its superior terroir and behind-the-scenes savoir faire with impressive panache.

95Wine Spectator

This features a terrific, gorgeously delineated graphite note that runs from start to finish, letting the dark plum, black cherry and cassis fruit play out beautifully. Shows a lovely backdrop of charcoal and iron on the finish. Ever so slightly rigid, with a strong graphite expression, this is straight rather than expansive in feel, but seriously long nonetheless.

94.3CellarTracker

91-94Vinous / IWC

Perfumed nose of blackcurrant, violet, ink and flint. Bright acids and very smooth tannins nicely frame and support the blackcurrant and cedar flavors. Finishes long and suave, with a lingering graphite note.

PRODUCER

Château Latour

Château Latour’s long and noble history is summarized graphically on every bottle. The label shows the domaine’s famous tower, a symbol of the château's importance to regional politics and defense as early as the 14th century. And as one of the original four First Growth Bordeaux, the estate has become even more significant in the last 200 years as the producer of one of the world’s most legendary wines. Robert M. Parker Jr. has noted that the wine produced at Château Latour “has been an impeccable model of consistent excellence in great, mediocre and poor vintages.” After passing to British ownership from 1963 to 1993, the château was purchased in 1993 by Francois Pinault, one of France’s most successful businessmen and entrepreneurs. Vineyards total 163 acres, with 75% planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% to Cabernet Franc, 20% to Merlot, and 1% Petit Verdot. The average age of the vines is 60 years. The chateau produces 180,000 bottles of Château Latour annually.

REGION

France, Bordeaux, Pauillac

Pauillac is Bordeaux’s most famous appellation, thanks to the fact that it is home to three of the region’s fabled first-growth châteaux, Lafite-Rothschild, Mouton-Rothschild and Latour. Perched on the left bank of the Gironde River north of the city of Bordeaux, Pauillac is centered around the commune of Pauillac and includes about 3,000 acres of vineyards. The Bordeaux classification of 1855 named 18 classified growths, including the three above mentioned First Growths. Cabernet Sauvignon is the principal grape grown, followed by Merlot. The soil is mostly sandy gravel mixed with marl and iron. Robert M. Parker Jr. has written that “the textbook Pauillac would tend to have a rich, full-bodied texture, a distinctive bouquet of black currants, licorice and cedary scents, and excellent aging potential.”