1989 Latour

[AlexR]

Well, here is a wine above my pay grade… and one for a special occasion. That occasion occurred when my friend Chris Howell, manager of Cain Vineyard and Winery in Saint Helena, came to dinner.

I first met Chris when he was an intern at Mouton Rothschild years ago. His Napa Valley wine, Cain Five, is considered one of the region’s best.
Chris had enjoyed lunch in the Médoc with the former cellarmaster of Château Léoville Las Cases and by pure coincidence tasted two other 89s during the meal: Las Cases and Palmer. Therefore, following up with a Latour from the same vintage at dinner was very serendipitous.

On to the wine... First of all, the color was far deeper and vibrant than one would expect after 33 years, with little browning on the rim. The nose was quite classic, with plenty of blackcurrant and soft tertiary qualities. However, this was not the wine’s most notable aspect. What made it special was its tremendous flavor and tannic texture. This was the quintessence of Cabernet in a very manly mode, but exhibiting tremendous class and restraint. The aftertaste was extremely long with a touch of menthol freshness. There was a mineral and ferrous component to the flavor and, above all, velvety tannin that showed the wine’s pedigree. I tend to prefer wines younger than many of my friends, but I have to admit that this Latour was still very much in the running and will be a good bottle to drink several decades from now…

Chris said that of the three 89s he’d had that day, the Latour showed the most finesse.

Alex R.

[JCNorthway]

Thanks for posting this Alex. It's pretty impressive how some wines can hold up over time. In my days of buying Napa cabs, I used to keep an eye on Cain Five, watching for any sales or promotions. Sadly there were few, so I think I only had it twice.

[johnz]

Interesting. I have never tasted the '89 Latour Grand Vin, but I do have 1 bottle in my cellar that I purchased 2-3 years after release for about $100. Over all those years there is no other specific Bordeaux wine and vintage for which I have seen more differing, contrasting scores, reviews and tasting notes than 1989 Latour. I've seen mid-80s to scores of 99 pts. Notes I have seen include "near perfect" "lacking in fruit," "powerful," "not a success," "harmonious," "too dry," "drink soon, " "needs 4 hour decant," etc. RParker panned it early on of course, but how can that wine possibly have such varying bottles? Based on the wide swing in scores and notes for this wine through the decades, I really wouldn't know what to expect. Who else has had the 1989 Latour?

--Gary Rust

[AlexR]

John,

In the interest of science, please open your bottle soon and share your thoughts!

All the best,
Alex R

[Comte Flaneur]

Sounds divine

Parker dissed this wine and gave it a derisory 89 points with a drinking window of 2003-2020

He said it didn’t have enough fruit, is low in acidity, lacks mid-palate richness and ripeness and has a short finish.

[jckba]

I had my sole bottle 10 years ago at a Ridgewood NJ BYOB restaurant aptly named Latour and my bottle was of the not so expressive, excessively drying nature, granted it was popped and poured so I digress. Not surprised however that there is bottle variation but do find the wide range of experiences interesting and as such, this would not be a vintage I would ever look to backfill.

[s*d*r]

Glad your bottle showed so well, Alex.

My experience confirms that the eighties was an off decade for Latour, except ‘82 and some ‘86s. Maybe the bottles that traveled across the Atlantic did not fare as well. The ‘89 I tasted two days ago was a decidedly weak and fruit-deficient effort.

I am sad when some people dismiss the FGs because they tasted one bottle from an off vintage and they rightly exclaimed it was mediocre or worse and therefore concluded that FGs are grossly over praised and over priced. There are lots of disappointments for sure but the best bottles are sublime.

[JCNorthway]

Speaking of Latour, any recent experiences with the 1970? I happened to come into possession of a single bottle of 1970 when my wine tasting club in Chicago purchased the cellar of a former member, and ended up "dividending" some bottles to current members. I've just been sitting on it for a few years looking for an opportunity to bring it out. If for a meal, I feel I probably need a backup just in case. Thoughts?

[JimHow]

I wonder if 1970 Latour is old school, the way Lynch Bages is a totally different animal pre-1982 than it was in the '80s post-82. I gave AKR a bottle of 1970 Lynch at NYC '03 and that was a totally different wine from what we know Lynch to be from the '80s on: earthy, rustic, tobacco, etc. I had a 1971 Latour once that was corked, I'm trying to remember if we had the 1970 at one of Stuart's events. The 1961 Latour that Stuart has served us was amazingly young but I'm predicting the 1970 should be uncorked, popped and poured now 53 years later.

[Winona Chief]

Except for one bad bottle, all of the 1970 Latours that I’ve had have been outstanding. The 1959, 1962, 1966 and 1967 Latours have all been great, too. The one time I had the 1989 was just okay and not nearly as good as Lynch Bages, Palmer, Montrose, Pichon Baron, Pichon Lalande or Cos d’Estournel.

Chris Bublitz

[AlexR]

Gentlemen,

John wrote "Over all those years there is no other specific Bordeaux wine and vintage for which I have seen more differing, contrasting scores, reviews and tasting notes than 1989 Latour"

I went and looked at the 220 Cellartracker notes for this wine. Most are full of praise, but a minority are very critical. Go figure...

All I can say is that I am fully prepared to believe that I may well have concurred with Stuart's negative impression at his recent tasting - but he may have felt differently had he tasted the bottle I opened a few days ago. The discrepancy in Cellartracker notes may be due to bottle variation, provenance, people being overly impressed by the label, unfamiliarity with aged first growth wines, etc. I just don't know.

I will be very interested to read other notes on BWE in the months to come.

Alex R.

[Claret]

I will likely be opening my lone 89 in the coming months.

[s*d*r]

I wonder if 1970 Latour is old school, the way Lynch Bages is a totally different animal pre-1982 than it was in the '80s post-82. I gave AKR a bottle of 1970 Lynch at NYC '03 and that was a totally different wine from what we know Lynch to be from the '80s on: earthy, rustic, tobacco, etc. . . I'm predicting the 1970 should be uncorked, popped and poured now 53 years later.

From last month’s Latour vertical. This is representative of good bottles.

• 1970 Château Latour Grand Vin - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (1/7/2023)
  Latour, Latour, Latour (WineWatch, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida): Nineteen-seventy Latour has always been a candidate for Wine of the Vintage, especially at this age. It still has the meaty, masculine intensity and concentration that only old Montrose seems to rival. From an era where modern levels of selection and vinification were unknown it shows a certain sternness and leather that are very imposing. The epitome of “masculine” Pauillac character. (93 pts.)