2016 Chateau Latour Les Forts de Latour

Château Latour is one of the most famous wine estates in the world. It is located in Bordeaux in Pauillac. It is on the border with the Saint-Julien wine region. Château Latour is classified as a Premier Grand Cru Classé according to the Bordeaux wine classification system of 1855. The estate covers 60 hectares and is planted with approximately 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot and a little Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.

Les Forts de Latour takes its name from a historic parcel in the «Enclos». The wine was first labelled with this name in 1966 and constant work on the development of the quality has resulted in it reaching the level of a Médoc Grand Cru Classé. It is the 2nd wine of Château Latour.

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 share of new barrels (50 to 60%) used in the maturation phase and the Forts has a larger share of Merlot which, among other things, ensures that the wine is ready to drink a little earlier than its big (more expensive) brother.

The 2016 Les Forts de Latour is a blend of 71% Cabernet Sauvignon and 29% Merlot. Beautiful dark colored in the glass with an intense crimson hue. Aromatic on the nose, very pure and seductive with ripe red and black fruit, delicious notes of cocoa and tobacco and a hint of citrus peel. Juicy, with a powerful mouthfeel and a lot of tension in the middle of the mouth that leads to a persistent, long finish.

2016 is a remarkable and forgettable vintage, with wines showing exceptional purity and concentration. A mild, wet winter combined with a cool March led to bud break for the Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon in late March. Fine, warm weather in early May accelerated vegetative growth. Stormy conditions in the second half of that month increased disease pressure. The first week of June was dry with temperatures between 20-25°C and this brought about flowering - the Merlot vines were in full bloom by 6th June. July was exceptionally hot and dry but the soil water reserves enabled the vines to withstand these extremes. September was sunny and warm but just as the first signs of hydric and thermal stress were becoming apparent, 35mm of rain provided some relief for the vines, allowing the grapes to continue to ripen in optimum conditions.

The harvest took place under ideal weather conditions from September 22 to 30 for the Merlot and from October 7 to 19 for the Cabernet Sauvignon.

FACT: In the tab 'Attachments' you will find the official fact sheet of this beautiful wine. We will automatically send you this when you order this wine. The wine is in our conditioned Wine Warehouse and if you come to pick up the wine you will often also receive a nice discount . You will see your discount immediately when you choose 'Pick up' on the checkout page. We are located in Dordrecht almost next to the A16 with plenty of parking. Click here for our address.