CHATEAU LATOUR 1er Grand Cru Classe, Pauillac 2003 Bottle

Description

The 2003 Château Latour has received stellar acclaim, including a perfect score of 100 points from both The Wine Advocate and James Suckling. Lisa Perrotti-Brown praised its deep garnet-purple colour and explosive aromas of black and blue fruits, meat, wood smoke, and Indian spices, complemented by floral notes. The palate is described as full, rich, and velvety, with a long, seductive finish. Suckling also awarded it 100 points, highlighting its flamboyant character, featuring black truffles, dark fruits, and polished tannins. Vinous rated it 97 points, noting rich flavours of black cherry and cooked meat, while also acknowledging the vintage's challenges. Wine Enthusiast scored it 97 points, lauding its completeness and complexity, reinforcing its reputation as a standout Bordeaux.

*****

THE WINE ADVOCATE 100 points !!!
Reviewed by: Lisa Perrotti-Brown
2003 was one of the hottest, earliest Bordeaux vintages ever. Some vines suffered from lack of moisture, but old vines and clay subsoil at Enclos saw this vineyard through. The Merlot harvest occurred between September 8 and 13, and the Cabernet Sauvignon was picked between September 22 and 30. The 2003 Latour is a blend of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot. Six percent of the press wine was added to the final blend. It has a medium to deep garnet-purple color, then wow—it explodes from the glass with bombastic black and blue fruits, followed up by meat, wood smoke, sandalwood and Indian spice accents with underlying floral wafts. The palate is full, rich, velvety, seductive and very long on the finish. There were only 10,800 cases made (rather than the normal 15,000-20,000).

JAMES SUCKLING 100 points !!!
A very flamboyant and exciting Latour. Sliced black truffles, sweet leather, spices, and dark fruits on the nose. Full and powerful, with roasted fruit and leather undertones. Big and velvety, with polished, almost dusty tannins, and a super long finish. This leans more towards sexy than intellectual. Very concentrated.

VINOUS 97 points
The 2003 Latour remains a redoubtable First Growth and a testament to its terroir that manifested such a great wine in a challenging growing season. You could argue that it does not disguise the heat of that notorious summer as deftly as the 2003 Montrose since there is still a touch more volatility here than other vintages. But there are gorgeous notes of black cherry, black truffle, cedar and a touch of cooked meat. The palate is full-bodied with saturated tannin. The acidity is very finely tuned considering the season and there is plenty of glycerine towards the sumptuous finish. Maybe it is more a great 2003 than a great Latour, but there are few recent vintages that are so delicious. Tasted at the International Business & Wine Latour dinner at Ten Trinity.- Neal Martin

WINE ENTHUSIAST 97 points
96-98 What makes a great Latour is a sense of completeness, of restrained power and of levels of complexity which the other first growths rarely achieve. That's why Latour 2003 is a great wine. — Roger Voss