chateau de la tour bordeaux 1996

Sorry, your browser is not supported.

Please upgrade to the latest version of Chrome , Firefox , Edge, or Internet Explorer 11 .

• 2023 Grand-Puy-Lacoste
• 2023 La Gaffelière
• 2023 Batailley
• Our Buyers’ picks
• Find out more
• All releases
• Vintage Champagne
• Mature Claret
• Our latest arrivals
• Start your wine cellar
• Critically acclaimed
• Claret to lay down
• Rhône 2022 En Primeur
• Burgundy 2022 En Primeur
• Our latest releases
• Single bottle gifts
• Spirit gifts
• Gift vouchers
• Larger formats
• Books and accessories
• Our bin ends
• Mix of the month case
• Good Ordinary Claret
• Capsule-free wines
• New vintages
• All Own Selection
• Champagne and sparkling
• Fortified and sweet
• Mixed cases
• All spirits
• Our hidden gems
• Mature fine wines
• 12 bottles for £300
• All regions
• All Bordeaux 2023 releases
• 2015 La Grande Année
• Grands Crus Classés
• Bordeaux 2023
• Fine wine calendar
• Brunello 2019
• Burgundy 2022
• All En Primeur wines
• All BBX listings
• Best of BBX
• Bid for wine
• Best of BBX Top 100
• Best of BBX: Cases under £300
• How to sell your wines
• List your wines on BBX
• Register to sell
• Buying with BBX
• Selling with BBX
• Cellar Manager app
• Your BBX listings
• Bids on your cellared wines
• Your BBX bids
• Your BBX bid alerts
• Your BBX dashboard
• Our New Spirits Shop
• Our 1997 Bowmore
• Apex Collection: Velocity
• Fine and rare whiskies
• Exclusive casks
• The Macallan
• The House of Suntory
• The Glenturret
• Hine Cognac
• Tobermory Distillery
• Our Own Selection
• £100 - £300
• £300 - £500
• £500 - £1,000
• Ultra-premium
• Bordeaux events
• Burgundy events
• Cheese and wine events
• Spirits events
• Events at 3 St James's Street
• WSET & courses
• All upcoming events
• Hiring our cellars
• Seasonal menus
• Download our brochure
• Our experts
• Events help
• Our history
• Gender pay gap report
• Terms & conditions
• Sustainability
• Customer support
• Learn about collecting
• Cellar Plan options
• How to get started
• Wine investment
• How BBX works
• Buying En Primeur
• Grape varieties
• Our producers
• Vintage chart
• Wine storage
• Our regions
• Latest articles
• Explore the archives
• No.3 Magazine

1996 Château Latour, Pauillac, Bordeaux

Add to wishlist

Buying options

Description.

Latour is a model for consistancy and excellence in even the poorest of vintages. In a superb year like 1996 the results are heavenly! This is a textbook Latour, massively concentrated, rich, with polished tannins and full bodied without being heavy. The extraordinary power and balance of this wine is phenomenal. It should continue to evolve to 2030.

Berry Bros. & Rudd

wine  at a glance

12.5% Alcohol

Drink, at peak

Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Full Bodied

Château Latour

France , Bordeaux , Pauillac

Delivery and quality guarantee

Free delivery on orders over £200. Find out more about collection and delivery options here

Wines and spirits purchased from Berry Bros. & Rudd can be stored in our temperature-controlled warehouse. You can see more information on storage costs here .

Every bottle sold by Berry Bros. & Rudd is subject to our quality guarantee. If a wine or spirit is corked or faulty, we will replace it. Find out more

Critics reviews

Beautifully ornate nose with equal parts stalk, leaf, herb and black fruit. Freshly balanced palate with delicacy and refreshment, and surprising elegance for Pauillac from a big vintage. Wonderful complexity on the finish, earthy and open and meaty on the length.

Drink 2015-2035

Richarf Hemming MW, jancisrobinson.com (May 2018)

Inky black even at 25 years old. A hugely impressive wine, with plenty of chewy tannins still in play, ripples of cassis, bilberry and blackberry fruits, set against olive paste, charcoal and eucalyptus. Things have softened around the edges no question, this is still full of life with decades ahead of it, but this is a great moment to start enjoying its promise. Textbook Latour in many ways, for its austerity and power, and its serious character that is underlaid by concentrated pleasure showcasing 'the gift of sub-gravel clays'. 56% of overall production in the first wine. 1% Petit Verdot completes the blend. Last released in 2014 as an ex-château wine.

Drink 2023-2040

Jane Anson, Decanter (Jan 2021)

A hot, dry August produced very concentrated grapes in 1996. However, it turned a bit rainy in mid-September through early October, making the vintage less consistent on the Right Bank and in Graves. But as the weather turned glorious from early October on, it was an amazing year for later-harvested Cabernet in the Médoc. There was new ownership at Latour by this time, and a new vat room was completed just prior to the harvest this year. The 1996 Latour is medium to deep garnet in color with a profound earthy, meaty, gamey nose with hints of blueberry preserves, crème de cassis and pencil shavings. The palate is full-bodied, concentrated and packed with muscular fruit, with a firm, ripe, grainy backbone and epically long finish. Showing much more youthfully than the 2000 tasted on the same day and still possessing bags of youthful fruit in the mid-palate, this beauty is going to go on and on!

Lisa Perrotti-Brown, robertparker.com (Feb 2019)

About this WINE

Château Latour is a wine estate in Pauillac , part of the Haut-Medoc sub-region on the Left Bank of Bordeaux . The estate’s history dates back to at least the 14th century, though vineyards were not established here until the 17th century. The estate is located at the southern edge of the Pauillac appellation, bordering the St Julien vineyards of Château Léoville Las Cases . Latour is one of the five First Growths of the 1855 classification, occupying the top tier alongside Châteaux Lafite Rothschild , Margaux , Haut-Brion , and Mouton Rothschild .

Latour is owned by François Pinault, one of France’s wealthiest people. It forms the jewel in the crown of Pinault’s Artémis Domaines, itself part of the larger Groupe Artémis. Other wineries within the portfolio include Clos de Tart and Domaine d’Eugénie in Burgundy ; Château Grillet in the Rhône Valley ; Champagne Jacquesson ; Eisele Vineyard in California’s Napa Valley ; and Maisons et Domaines Henriot , which includes holdings in Champagne , Burgundy , and Oregon .

The day-to-day running of Latour is entrusted to the dynamic Frédéric Engerer. Under his stewardship, a major programme of investment has taken place. In 2012, Latour announced that it would no longer offer its wines as part of the Bordeaux En Primeur campaign. Instead, the wines are kept at the estate until such a time as they are ready to be opened and enjoyed. They are then offered through the La Place de Bordeaux distribution system several years after the vintage.

There are three wines produced here. Château Latour, the grand vin, is produced from vines immediately surrounding the château, from the vineyard area known as L’Enclos. Les Forts de Latour, the second wine, was created in 1966. It is now regarded as a great wine in its own right, certainly worthy of Classified Growth status. A third wine, Pauillac de Latour, is usually the product of young vines.

The vineyard is planted to a majority of Cabernet Sauvignon , along with some Merlot and small amounts of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot .

Pauillac is the aristocrat of the Médoc boasting boasting 75 percent of the region’s First Growths and with Grand Cru Classés representing 84 percent of Pauillac's production. For a small town, surrounded by so many familiar and regal names, Pauillac imparts a slightly seedy impression. There are no grand hotels or restaurants – with the honourable exception of the establishments owned by Jean-Michel Cazes – rather a small port and yacht harbour, and a dominant petrochemical plant.

Yet outside the town, , there is arguably the greatest concentration of fabulous vineyards throughout all Bordeaux, including three of the five First Growths. Bordering St Estèphe to the north and St Julien to the south, Pauillac has fine, deep gravel soils with important iron and marl deposits, and a subtle, softly-rolling landscape, cut by a series of small streams running into the Gironde. The vineyards are located on two gravel-rich plateaux, one to the northwest of the town of Pauillac and the other to the south, with the vines reaching a greater depth than anywhere else in the Médoc. Pauillac's first growths each have their own unique characteristics; Lafite Rothschild , tucked in the northern part of Pauillac on the St Estèphe border, produces Pauillac's most aromatically complex and subtly-flavoured wine. Mouton Rothschild's vineyards lie on a well-drained gravel ridge and - with its high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon  - can produce (in its best years) Pauillac's most decadently rich, fleshy and exotic wine.

Latour , arguably Bordeaux's most consistent First Growth, is located in southern Pauillac next to St Julien. Its soil is gravel-rich with superb drainage, and Latour's vines penetrate as far as five metres into the soil. It produces perhaps the most long-lived wines of the Médoc.

Recommended Châteaux Ch. Lafite-Rothschild , Ch. Latour , Ch. Mouton-Rothschild , Ch. Pichon-Longueville Baron , Ch. Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande , Ch. Lynch-Bages , Ch. Grand-Puy-Lacoste , Ch, Pontet-Canet , Les Forts de Latour , Ch. Haut-Batailley , Ch. Batailley , Ch. Haut-Bages Libéral .

Cabernet Sauvignon lends itself particularly well in blends with Merlot. This is actually the archetypal Bordeaux blend, though in different proportions in the sub-regions and sometimes topped up with Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot. In the Médoc and Graves the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend can range from 95% ( Mouton-Rothschild ) to as low as 40%. It is particularly suited to the dry, warm, free- draining, gravel-rich soils and is responsible for the redolent cassis characteristics as well as the depth of colour, tannic structure and pronounced acidity of Médoc wines. However 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines can be slightly hollow-tasting in the middle palate and Merlot with its generous, fleshy fruit flavours acts as a perfect foil by filling in this cavity. In St-Emilion and Pomerol , the blends are Merlot dominated as Cabernet Sauvignon can struggle to ripen there - when it is included, it adds structure and body to the wine. Sassicaia is the most famous Bordeaux blend in Italy and has spawned many imitations, whereby the blend is now firmly established in the New World and particularly in California and   Australia .

Available for collection from London Shop

Château Latour Grand Vin Pauillac (Premier Grand Cru Classé) 1996

Latour 1996

View all vintages of this wine  |  View all wines by Latour

Tasting Notes

A hot, dry August produced very concentrated grapes in 1996. However, it turned a bit rainy in mid-September through early October, making the vintage less consistent on the Right Bank and in Graves. But as the weather turned glorious from early October on, it was an amazing year for later-harvested Cabernet in the Médoc. There was new ownership at Latour by this time, and a new vat room was completed just prior to the harvest this year. The 1996 Latour is medium to deep garnet in color with a profound earthy, meaty, gamey nose with hints of blueberry preserves, crème de cassis and pencil shavings. The palate is full-bodied, concentrated and packed with muscular fruit, with a firm, ripe, grainy backbone and epically long finish. Showing much more youthfully than the 2000 tasted on the same day and still possessing bags of youthful fruit in the mid-palate, this beauty is going to go on and on!

From my cellar, the 1996 Latour is still a very youthful, tightly wound wine, unfurling in the glass with notions of blackcurrants, loamy soil, cigar wrapper and English walnuts. Medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, it's built around by ripe, increasingly melting tannins and a bright spine of acidity, concluding with a long, penetrating finish. Given this Latour's ruby-black hue and impeccable structure, it still has a long future ahead of it. Today, it really begins to expatiate after four hours in a decanter.

The 1996 Latour is a wine that I often find overrated and did not achieve everything that might have been possible in this favourable growing season. That said, this might well be the best of around two dozen bottles I have encountered over the years. As usual, the 1996 is decidedly austere at first, standoffish, looks down its nose at you. Yet it coalesces with time and develops engaging cedar-scented black fruit tinged with pencil box and a touch of iris with time. The palate (again) is a little muted at first but it soon found its voice and evolved very fine tannin allied with a crisp line of acidity. It is not quite as demonstrative as it was even just a couple of years ago, gained some detail and perhaps it will continue to meliorate. Very fine, very fine indeed - but not a patch of say, the Château Margaux or perhaps even Léoville Las Cases. Tasted at the International Business & Wine Latour dinner at Ten Trinity.

Nose wonderful, complex and open, developed yet youthful, mature damp earth and charcoal hints, dark blackcurrant fruit, cedar wood with cranberry and ripe black cherry, very complex and deep, just starting to open up. Excellent. Drink 2009-2026.Date tasted 7th July 09.

Black. Looks like a cask sample despite eight years in bottle. A huge, opulent, sexy nose - the essence of Pauillac, that soars out of the glass. On the palate this is massively dense, extracted and concentrated with a strong licorice and blackcurrant character. Ultra-ripe but not at all jammy. A wonderful example of density and structure in perfect harmony. Tasted later than the 1995, this does have even more intensity than that very impressive young wine. Powerful, a classic Latour that is just beginning to come out of its shell. Hugely impressive.

A spectacular Latour, the 1996 may be the modern day clone of the 1966, only riper. This vintage, which is so variable in Pomerol, St.-Emilion, and Graves, was fabulous for the late-harvested Cabernet Sauvignon of the northern Medoc because of splendid weather in late September and early October. An opaque purple color is followed by phenomenally sweet, pure aromas of cassis infused with subtle minerals. This massive offering possesses unreal levels of extract, full body, intensely ripe, but abundant tannin, and a finish that lasts for nearly a minute. Classic and dense, it displays the potential for 50-75 years of longevity. Although still an infant, it would be educational to taste a bottle. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2050.

Fifty-six per cent of the 1996 production made it into the grand vin, a blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot. It is a massive, backward wine that comes close to being a monster. The 1996 appears to be a modern day version of the 1966 or 1970, rather than the sweeter, more sumptuous, fatter styles of the 1982 or 1990. The wine reveals an opaque ruby/purple colour, as well as reticent but emerging aromas of roasted nuts, blackberry fruit, tobacco, and coffee, with hints of pain grillé in the background. Massive and full-bodied in the mouth, it possesses extremely high tannin, fabulous concentration and purity, and an impeccably long finish. This wine, bottled in July 1998, will require at least a decade of cellaring. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2040.

The 1996 is a fabulous wine that should rival, and even eclipse the extraordinary 1995. The 1996 is huge, massive, it boasts an opaque ruby/purple color, as well as extraordinary, thick, monster-sized fruit, glycerin, and extract on the palate, an a finish that lasts for 40 seconds. In addition to being a classic Pauillac, it is a textbook Latour, with formidable power, compelling purity, and remarkable presence on the palate. The nose is just beginning to offer some of the minerals, roasted herbs, grilled meats, cassis, and blackberry character of this great first- growth. Full bodied and layerded, with amazing power and richness, but no sensesof heaviness, this is a wine to buy for your children. Anticipated maturity:2015-2040

The 1996 Latour was the first to be made in the new vat room that was completed in the nick of time before the fruit came in. Frédéric Engerer told me that they had no "Plan B" if it had not been ready! He also told me that the 1996 underwent little sorting and no green harvest. It was picked around 22-23 September. Now at 20 years of age, it has quite a complex bouquet that is approaching full maturity, laden with blackberry, charcoal, pencil lead and cedar scents that display impressive precision. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, well balanced with a keen thread of acidity. It is foursquare, correct and very "Latour": saline in the mouth with good depth towards the finish and this bottle showing a dash of black pepper and a hint of licorice on the finish. While not in the same division as say, Mouton-Rothschild or Château Margaux this vintage, it remains a splendid, if quite "serious" Latour. Drink this now and over the next 15-20 years. Tasted July 2016.

Mature rim. Inky mineral nose. Delicate, lively wine. Really racy. Very dry finish. A bit gawky. Drink 2008-20

Very deep colour. The bouquet was very closed but with good sugar. There was good acid and sweetness on the palate. 18.5pts. Lindsay Hamilton 16 Nov 01.

London Office

• Bank Details
• London Team

Farr Vintners

• Testimonials
• Terms and Conditions

Hong Kong Office

• Hong Kong Team

• Discussions
• Create an Account

• Tasting Notes

Food Pairing Tags

• Advanced Search
• > Château La Tour Carnet
• Hide Side Panel

1996 Château La Tour Carnet

• Red Bordeaux Blend
• > Bordeaux
• > Médoc
• > Haut-Médoc

Auction price: Register or sign-in to see quarterly averages or visit the Wine Market Journal Drink by: ( Add My Drinking Window )

• Add new vintage...
• View Producer Page
• Create New Wine
• Show All Wines
• Show All Tasting Notes

Advertisement

Popular wines like this.

• Red 2009 Château Pontet-Canet
• Red 2000 Château Lynch-Bages
• Red 2005 Château Cos d'Estournel

Who Likes This Wine (3)

518 Tasting Notes

1,547 Tasting Notes

2,878 Tasting Notes

Add My Food Pairing Tags

• Tasting Notes (23)
• Pro Reviews (0)

Wine Definition

Community tasting notes ( 18 ) avg score: 87.0 points.

• Sort Tasting Notes by...
• Highest Score
• Lowest Score
• Most Comments
• Fewest Comments
• Most Helpful Votes
• Fewest Helpful Votes
• Post a Comment
• View CarpeDiem!'s profile
• Report Issue

7/21/2023 - CarpeDiem! Likes this wine: 92 Points

Perfectly matured, with a good balance between mature berries, cask notes and a solid dose of roast aromas and freshness. Very nice.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• View WojteG's profile

5/9/2023 - WojteG Likes this wine: 90 Points

Last November I had 1999 vintage and I liked so much! 93 pts. Let's see what this older brother can bring to my tongue and brain. 🕤⏰🕐 It's 26 old wine and I expected a lot of aromas of tobacco, musty cellar, earth. They are here of course, but I didn't expect so strong aromas of black cherry, blackberry, plum! Smell is simply lovely. Taste? I'm not so much excited about it like at 1999 vintage. A little bit flat A little bit light A little bit boring Everything is here, but I would say - weak. Black fruits again, but also red cherry. Tobacco ( too much), cedar, not enough spice and tannins. Too much acidity. Don't take me wrong. This juice is still very drinkable. No faults, but no excitement either. 1996 was extraordinary in Haut-Medoc( all other parts of Bordeaux were just average). 96 points according WA Vintage Guide!

7/31/2022 - CarpeDiem! Likes this wine: 91 Points

Well matured pre-Magrez TC. Although a bit disrespectful, we had this bottle with a BBQ. After an excellent pairing of a 2000 (also with a BBQ) we were lucky again. Fully matured, with an excellent balance between mature berries, cask notes and a solid dose of roast aromas this was a true drinking pleasure.

2/12/2022 - CarpeDiem! Likes this wine: 89 Points

Well aged and still in good shape, confirming the longevity of 1996 Médocs. Fresh nose, of red berries, liquorice, bell pepper and menthol. Medium bodied, well structured. Pleasant maturity notes, of tobacco, leather, chocolate and plum. Thinning out a bit and a bit of suphur shadow in the nose, but overall pleasant to drink.

1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment

• View eboracum's profile

3/12/2016 - eboracum Likes this wine: 90 Points

A very enjoyable medium+ bodied claret dating from the estate's pre-Magrez era. Colour still vigorous, nose expressive with fresh fragrant red fruit, hints of leafiness, cedar and leather, slightly marred by a metallic note. Palate classically shaped and harmonious with good depth of gracious fruit, minerals, mouth-watering acidity and still firm tannic backbone on the finish. I guess that this can go on for many more years. Very good.

View all 18 Community Tasting Notes

What do you think add a tasting note, pro reviews, add a pro review add your own reviews:  .

• Vintage 1996
• Producer Château La Tour Carnet
• Variety Red Bordeaux Blend
• Designation n/a
• Vineyard n/a
• Country France
• Region Bordeaux
• SubRegion Médoc
• Appellation Haut-Médoc
• Display options Default

Learn More About This Wine

Cellartracker articles:.

• Château La Tour Carnet
• Haut-Médoc
• Add or Edit Articles…

Other Websites:

• Producer's Website
• Haut-Médoc on Wikipedia
• Google (images)
• Bing (images)
• Wine Advocate
• Wine Spectator
• Wine‑Searcher

Report a problem with this page. See my transactions .

• What do you think? I like it I don't like it
• Add to My Cellar
• Community Notes 18
• Community Score 87.0
• Add a Tasting Note
• Add a Pro Review
• Add to My List
• Add a Private Note
• Pending Delivery (0%) 0
• In Cellars (59%) 92
• Consumed (41%) 63
• Classic-mode

© 2003-24 CellarTracker! LLC. All rights reserved. "CellarTracker!" is a trademark of CellarTracker! LLC. No part of this website may be used, reproduced or distributed without the prior written permission of CellarTracker! LLC.

Chateau latour

Voir la vidéo

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser

Château La Tour de Bessan, Margaux, Bordeaux, France, 2023

• Single Tasting

Related Wines

Related news & features.