The 2013 vintage of Chateau Latour has been released at €365 per bottle ex-negociant, up 4.2% on the release price of the 2012 last spring (€350 per bottle).
The wine is being offered in the UK at around £4,200 per 12×75, the same price as the 2012.
From an infamously turbulent vintage, Robert Parker rated the wine initially for the Wine Advocate in 2014 and although he called it, “an excellent effort”, his score bracket was just 88-90.
The wine has had some stronger ratings more recently. Jane Anson at Decanter scored it 93-points, saying it was, “one of the wines of the vintage” and the right time to release it.
Over at Vinous, Antonio Galloni called it “absolutely gorgeous” and “still young” but only marked it 92.
His tasting partner Neal Martin likewise said it was, “approachable, harmonious and winsome,” as well as being, “about as good as good as the Left Bank gets in this vintage” but only rated it 91, remarking: “It has commendable purity, though it does not possess the complexity of profundity of a bona fide great Latour.”
At Wine Advocate, Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW had similar comments to Martin, saying it was an, “outstanding achievement for the vintage” and “a very pretty wine drinking beautifully right now” but also one that, “lacks the power, real depth and aging potential of a truly great year”. She rated it 93-points.
Although technically positioned to represent ‘fair value’, buyers may instead be drawn to the 96-point rated 2012 which hasn’t moved in price since its release last May. The 94-rated 2011 also matches up favourably, as do the older ‘off’ vintages of 2008, 2006 and 2004.
Released alongside the grand vin is the 2015 vintage of Les Forts de Latour, at €160 ex-négociant, up 14.2% on the 2014 release. The wine is being offered in the UK at around £1,819 per 12×75.
The 2015 has stronger scores than its fellow new release. Galloni (94-points) called it, “silky, perfumed and wonderfully nuanced”, while Martin (93-points) said it was, “wonderfully poised with great persistence on the finish”.
Perrotti-Brown also scored it 94 and said it “just” trumped the grand vin in this release with its “layers and intensity”.
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