Chateau Latour Premier Cru Classe, Pauillac 2009

A blend of 91.3% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8.7% Merlot with just under 14% natural alcohol, the 2009 Latour is basically a clone of the super 2003, only more structured and potentially more massive and long lived. An elixir of momentous proportions, it boasts a dense purple colour and an extraordinarily flamboyant bouquet of black fruits, graphite, crushed rocks, subtle oak and a notion of wet steel.

It hits the palate with a thundering concoction of thick, juicy blue and black fruits, lead pencil shavings and a chalky minerality. Full-bodied but very fresh with a finish that lasts over a minute, this is one of the most remarkable young wines I have ever tasted. Will it last one hundred years? No doubt about it. Can it be drunk in a decade? For sure.

Drink 2022 - 2080

The hot, dry summer of 2009 produced a somewhat burly wine that seems riper and almost sweeter than the 2010 vintage, although it lacks a bit of the tension and freshness of the 2010. The result is fleshy and dense, with an almost fearsome depth of flavour. The texture suggests that this wine has the substance to age for decades, while the approachable character means that it should open up before the 2010 vintage. In 2009, the picking lasted from 23rd September through to 10th October, and the final blend was over 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, with the balance being Merlot; neither Cabernet Franc nor Petit Verdot made an appearance in the grand vin.

Drink 2032 - 2082

A 91/9 blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot; 13.7% alcohol; 87 IPT; roughly 38% of the total crop.

Purple ruby. Flamboyant red cherry, cassis, graphite and cedar aromas soar from the glass. Then, it is very dense, supple, and smooth, with a noble texture and great breadth to its red cherry, blackcurrant, spicy plum, ink, and cedar flavours. Finishes with exceptionally velvety tannins and a very ripe, almost perfumed quality to the red and black fruit flavours.

It is a large-scale and great wine that calls to mind a combination of the 1982 and 2005 Latours. That said, while this wine shares some of the 2009 Mouton's voluptuous perfume, it lacks the extraordinary finesse of the 2009 Lafite or Margaux but is much more powerful than both. Millionaires will have much fun comparing the first growths of 2009 and arguing over which is the best.