The 2005 Latour was mind-blowingly profound in two recent tastings for this report. Deep and sensual to the core, the 2005 is utterly captivating. All the elements are so seamlessly put together. Graphite, crème de cassis, licorice, dark spice and lavender infuse the 2005 with so much energy. More than anything else, though, the 2005 is a Latour of texture and resonance. Even after several hours, the 2005 is fresh and full of energy. Wines like this are just life affirming. That's about all I can really say. Tasted two times.

Drinking Window: 2022 - 2055

Reviewer Name: Antonio Galloni

Review Date: 1st April 2021

Very open and beautiful now with currants, light chocolate and spices. Incense as well. Full-bodied, tight and reserved with a fantastic center palate of fruit and firm tannins. Closed and hiding behind the structure and depth. Needs time to open still but already a joy to taste (drink!).

Review Date: 17th October 2019

2005 was a very dry, warm and sunny vintage, causing vine stress in some areas of Bordeaux. Harvested from September 26 to October 6, the tannin/IPT levels were very high this year. The 2005 Latour is blended of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, with the rest Merlot and Petit Verdot. It is the biggest surprise of this tasting—until now, the wine was relatively closed and broody, but today the wine is just starting to reveal its personality—and what a stunner! Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it opens with provocative floral scents of roses and violets over a core of fresh blackcurrants, chocolate-covered cherries and black raspberries with hints of fertile loam, unsmoked cigars and black tea. Medium to full-bodied, firm, grainy and packed with muscular fruit, it has an epically long, savory finish sparked by floral notes. 12,000 cases were made.

Drinking Window: 2020 - 2065

Reviewer Name: Lisa Perrotti-Brown

Review Date: 28th February 2019

Expectations are high when you open a top flight estate in one of Bordeaux’s most revered vintages, and the 2005 Latour, while still being stubborn, is poised to deliver the goods. So many layers to get through, and it moves in distinct stages, from sweet-salty dark chocolate and soy sauce through to earthy cassis and blackberries, finishing up with a delicate burst of rosebuds and violet flowers, and a saline, slate and mint kick on the finish. The flavours remain hidden at first and need coaxing - there is definitely no rush to open, and it may still be going through something of a dumb phase, but I have been lucky enough to taste this wine a few times this year, and this week’s example was one of the best, really beginning to grow into its potential, and showing plenty of old school Latour power. There are fireworks but you have to wait for them, and ideally I would still give it another few years. 100% new oak. This wine has been released En Primeur, then again in March 2017, and this is the third and final release. Harvest between September 26 and October 6. Decanted three hours before tasting, and it needs another few hours to fully open.

Review Date: 6th September 2021

A massive, powerful wine that tastes like the essence of the great estate, the 2005 Château Latour is based on 87% Cabernet Sauvignon and the balance Merlot and Petit Verdot brought up in new barrels. It reveals a saturated purple/plum color as well as a gorgeous bouquet of blackcurrants, graphite, gravelly earth, tobacco, lead pencil, and chocolate. Dense, full-bodied, and massively concentrated, it has the more austere, masculine style of the estate front and center, yet has gorgeously sweet tannin, a stacked mid-palate, and a great, great finish. This profound, regal 2005 can be drunk any time over the coming 40-50 years, and I suspect even longer.

Drinking Window: 2020 - 2070

Reviewer Name: Jeb Dunnuck

Review Date: 9th April 2020

($1; 500-$2,000) Deep ruby-red. Reticent, brooding aromas of cassis, black plum, graphite and flowers. Then utterly explosive in the mouth, with wonderful sappy complexity of flavor and a thickness of texture that builds and builds toward the back; almost no sign of the new oak here. Offers a near-magical combination of power and refinement, but this extremely primary wine is still an infant. Finishes with extraordinary persistence that leaves the palate vibrating. One of the greatest young Bordeaux I've tasted in recent years, and more complete and classic than the outrageously lush 2003. For his part, Engerer feels that this wine combines the best traits of the 2003 and 2000 Latours. I made the mistake of retasting the 2007 after trying this, and the tannins of the younger wine came off as dry by comparison.

Reviewer Name: Stephen Tanzer

Review Date: 1st May 2008

Powerful, tannic, bold, firm and structured, this is perhaps the quintessential example of the fist inside the iron glove. This is incredibly powerful, focused and precise. It's also quite structured, dense and tannic.

Reviewer Name: Jeff Leve

Review Date: 29th May 2017

87% Cabernet Sauvignon, remainder Merlot and Petit Verdot. Harvest took place between 26 September and 6 October.
Along with Margaux, another standout 2005. Still closed on the nose, this is a precise, concentrated Latour which has the structure to age effortlessly for a further two (or more) decades. Intense lead-pencil character on the nose with a plush, rich, intense palate of vibrant, dark, concentrated fruit. Extremely glossy tannins and beautifully integrated oak, finishing with a fine, lingering graphite note. A thoroughbred, drinking beautifully already but will age extremely well. (AWH)

Drinking Window: 2025 - 2045

Reviewer Name: Andy Howard MW

Review Date: 5th August 2021

The Latour was magnificent but is now, unfortunately, in something of a dumb phase. The aromas showed a balanced mix of red and black fruit with appropriate accents from the maturation in new casks and the trademark earthy undercurrent accented with tar and leather notes. The extract has a substantial feel, and yet the tannins remain silky. One has the sense that, like all Latour, it will age exceedingly well, but it is far from showing its full potential. The blend is 87% Cabernet Sauvignon and 13% Merlot, and picking began on 26 September.

Drinking Window: 2021 - 2040

Reviewer Name: Charles Curtis MW

Review Date: 26th June 2021