Not an outstanding vintage overall for Bordeaux, 2006 had the potential to be very good. Things got off to a pretty impressive start in Pauillac this year, and then it all went a bit pear-shaped toward the end with a cool, rainy August and late September. Vineyard diligence and a take-no-prisoners attitude on the sorting table were the keys to relative success here. While it is clear Latour had their work cut out for them with this 2006 release, they managed to produce an incredibly impressive grand vin, which is drinking beautifully now yet should cellar gracefully over the next 20+ years. The 2006 Latour was just released this year and is composed of 91.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7.5% Merlot, 0.5% Cabernet Franc and 0.5% Petit Verdot. It has a medium to deep garnet-purple color and lovely open nose with florals and red fruit aromas. The palate is medium-bodied, elegant and minerally with a compelling iron ore character and great length. 10,000 cases were produced (representing 38% of production).

Drinking Window: 2018 - 2038

Reviewer Name: Lisa Perrotti-Brown

Review Date: 28th February 2019

The 2006 Latour is a blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. It is a vintage that I have followed closely since first tasting the wine from barrel, both in sighted and blind conditions. The 2006 has long been one of the best offerings from the Left Bank and this bottle was consistent with previous notes. It retains a disarming sense of purity on the nose: blackberry, raspberry, cedar and pencil shaving scents that seem to burst from the glass with a sense of vim and vigor. There is an underlying ferrous note, signs of secondary scents emerging over the horizon. The palate immediately exerts an insistent grip in the mouth, maybe a touch more backward than I expected. But it still conveys a sense of energy and there is a sense of brightness that Latour does not necessarily always possess. Laden with black fruit, with aeration it leans more towards red and manifests impressive depth allied with a fine bead of acidity that imparts mouth-tingling tension. In banal terms, it is an unashamedly “drinkable” Latour rather than one predisposed to impress and though it does not offer the persistence of giants like the 2005 or 2010, its joie de vivre will be appreciated by those tempted to splash out on one of around 4,000 cases kept back from its original release.

Drinking Window: 2018 - 2045

Reviewer Name: Neal Martin

Review Date: 1st April 2018

Saturated ruby-red. Pungently mineral aromas of black cherry, bitter chocolate, violet and minerals. Densely packed, juicy and precise; powerful but not at all musclebound. This is most impressive today on the gripping back half, where the toothcoating tannins are serious but suave, and there's a rare rebound of graphite, iodine, licorice and black fruits. This offers great potential and a sense of brooding energy and will clearly be a long-distance runner. After a very strict selection (just 38% of the crop went into the grand vin) there will be just 10,000 cases of this wine, as low a total as in the drought year of 2003. It's tempting to compare this wine to the 1996 Latour, but the flavors here seem a tad cooler.

Reviewer Name: Stephen Tanzer

Review Date: 8th December 2014