Les Forts de Latour 2019

The 2019 Forts de Latour is a tannic, backward wine, as it has always been. Blue/purplish fruit, lavender, graphite, sage and mocha open with a bit of coaxing. Even so, the 2019 is incredibly tight at this stage. Despite its imminent release, I would not dream of touching a bottle any time soon. Rain just before harvest in this warm vintage helped keep things in check and resulted in fairly generous yields of 45 hectoliters per hectare. At the same time, the mid-palate is a bit compact, while the tannins are imposing. Drink 2029-2049.

The 2019 Les Forts de Latour appears to have tightened up a little since I last tasted it a few years ago. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of sweet cassis fruit mingled with hints of cedar, iris, orange zest and new oak, it's medium to full-bodied, lively and nicely concentrated, with a ripe core of fruit underpinned by chalky structuring tannins. While it's approachable after a decant, it certainly merits additional patience. As readers will remember, this bottling mostly derives from dedicated parcels located further inland from Latour's famous "Enclos," next to Château Haut-Batailley. 2029 - 2050

The 2019 Les Forts de Latour has a lovely nose with copious black cherry and cassis scents, quite floral; the new oak beautifully integrated. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins, fine-boned and exquisite in terms of balance, quite tensile towards the mineral-driven finish. One of the most elegant Pauillacs in this vintage. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting.

Restrained and more subdued than the Pauillac de Latour, but this has momentum and character, and is lip-smackingly moreish. Brambled blackberry fruits are contrained within sinewy and fairly serious tannins, with liqourice, tobacco, slate, rosemary and truffle. Not the concentration of a vintage like 2016 in this wine, but hard to argue with, and should be ready to drink within five or six years. 70% new oak, 39% of production.