Chateau Latour 2003

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "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."

WEINWISSER: "Dunkles Granat, blaue Reflexen. Nobles, warmes, rauchiges Cabernet-Bouquet, rahmige Fülle, Edelhölzer, Pralinen, Orangeat und Minze, man kommt von der Nase fast nicht mehr weg, ein wahrer Terroir-Cocktail. Im Gaumen opulent und gleichzeitig elegant, fleischige Tannine, süss, harmonisch und perfekt ausgelegt, ein Finale ohne Ende, sich immer mehr zu einer Legende entwickelnd."

FALSTAFF: "Dunkles Rubingranat, tiefer Farbkern, violette Reflexe, dezente Randaufhellung. Reife dunkle Beerenfrucht, Brombeeren, etwas Cassis und Nougat, unterlegt mit dunkler Mineralität und feiner Holzwürze, ein Hauch von kandierten Orangenzesten. Immens stoffig, extraktsüß, integrierte Tannine, Nuancen von Cassis, schokoladiger Touch auch im Nachhall, dabei frisch und trinkanimierend, zeigt großartige Länge, ein jugendlicher Klassiker, bitte gut wegsperren."

JAMES SUCKLING: "Fascinating nose of fresh flowers, currants, and sandalwood. Full bodied, with a seamless core of fruit that goes on and on. Love the polished tannins and the beauty here. A powerful and rich wine with so much class and finesse for such a hot vintage. Pull the cork after 2016. Find the wine."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "Aromatically as you might expect, the wine displays a very ripe, roasted ostentatious nose packed with flowers, cappuccino, dark red fruits, smoke, wet forest floor and spice box notes. There is a sweetness to the fruits emanating from the incredibly hot conditions of the vintage. On the palate, the wine is pure intensity, power and richness. Grabbing you, demanding to get noticed, as if you could avoid the massive wall of fruit that's in your face. Atypical, which makes for a unique expression of Latour, it is fabulous to taste and experience. But its best days are clearly in its future."

WINE SPECTATOR: "Intense aromas of blackberry, licorice, currant and mineral. Full-bodied, with very well-integrated tannins and a long, long finish. Very refined and beautiful. Goes on for minutes. This reminds me of the fabulous 1996. But even better. Best after 2012. 10,000 cases made."

WINE ENTHUSIAST: "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."