2012 Latour (2025 Release)
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Tasting notes
Re-release of the 2012 vintage, the first one that came off the Place de Bordeaux, and it is moving into its drinking window at 14 years old, although as ever with Latour there is no rush to drink this, and the wine seems in a similar place to my last tasting in 2022. Plenty of Pauillac typicity in terms of blackcurrant and bilberry fruit shot through with mint leaf and cedar, given depth and character with fennel, liquorice, crayon, crushed rocks, graphite. Muscular tannins but with enough light in between to make this a relatively early-drinking Latour. Harvest September 24 to October 16.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux
James Suckling
More reviews and scores
The 2012 Latour is medium to deep garnet colored. It is a little sluggish to begin, delivering oaky notes over a core of creme de cassis, baked plums, and new leather, plus hints of cast-iron pan and cigar box. Medium-bodied, the palate has a solid structure of firm, grainy tannins with seamless freshness and taut, muscular fruit, finishing long and earthy.
The 2012 Latour has a delineated bouquet, understated at first, gravel and cedar percolating through the black fruit. Charming. The palate is medium-bodied with saturated tannins, fine grip, wonderful acidity and with an endearing symmetry that persists through to the finish. Superb concentration, much more than Lafite-Rothschild by direct comparison, with a very persistent aftertaste. Tasted twice at Bordeaux Index's Ten Year-On tasting and blind at the Southwold Ten-Year On tasting.
The first vintage of Latour to be released many years after the en primeur campaign. Quite reticent on the nose. A bit pinched and tough still. Minerally and stony. Go for Les Forts for current drinking. (JR)
About the producer
One of Bordeaux’s five First Growths, as classified in 1855, Ch. Latour is among the most famous addresses in Pauillac and the world. The estate is renowned for its long-ageing, powerful and structured wines.