### Château Latour: 2022 New Releases - Neal Martin

BY NEAL MARTIN | MARCH 17, 2022

I was not able to visit Château Latour back in December as my focus was upon the 2019s in bottle and, as we all know, the First Growth has kept inventory back to release their three wines when deemed to be mature. When I visited the estate in March to taste some mature vintages with Frédéric Engerer for an article that will appear in the future, we began with the three forthcoming releases that complement [Antonio Galloni’s reviews](https://vinous.com/articles/cellar-favorite-chateau-latour-2022-new-releases-jan-2022) that have already been published on Vinous.

The **2017 Pauillac de Latour** is quite backward on the nose at first and needs a little more coaxing than usual. Blackberry intermingles with black olive and light estuarine, almost kelp-like aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with a sappy entry, quite briny and saline, plenty of character, a somewhat uncompromising Third Wine, though that is something I quite admire.

![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1647361581833-latour+2022+releases.jpg)

The **2016 Les Forts de Latour** has a gorgeous bouquet, extremely pure and floral, veins of blue fruit, cassis permeating the blackberry fruit. The palate is beautifully balanced, again, very saline and a little spicier than I expected. There is a veneer of black fruit that makes it seem quite approachable, yet the tannins and backbone are there behind it. This is a superb Les Forts de Latour. Frédéric Engerer opined that it will drink in two or three years, though its substance and complexity suggest that those with the wherewithal to cellar this Les Fort will be amply rewarded.

The **2014 Latour** has a beautifully defined bouquet with intertwined blackberry, briary, crushed stone and pencil box scents. This takes time to unfold in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with tobacco and graphite-infused black fruit framed by svelte tannins. This has a fine bead of acidity, cohesive with straight-down-the-line Pauillac tropes of graphite and tobacco towards the finish. Strict and aristocratic, the tobacco element has been accentuated with time. Superb.

_© 2022, Vinous. No portion of this article may be copied, shared or re-distributed without prior consent from Vinous. Doing so is not only a violation of our copyright, but also threatens the survival of independent wine criticism._

* * *

**You Might Also Enjoy**

[Cellar Favorite - Château Latour: 2022 New Releases](https://vinous.com/articles/cellar-favorite-chateau-latour-2022-new-releases-jan-2022), Antonio Galloni, January 2022

[Branas Grand Poujeaux 2002-2019](https://vinous.com/articles/branas-grand-poujeaux-2002-2019-feb-2022), Neal Martin, February 2022

[Omne Trium Perfectum: Bordeaux 2019s in Bottle](https://vinous.com/articles/omne-trium-perfectum-bordeaux-2019s-in-bottle-feb-2022), Neal Martin, February 2022

[Pierre, Denis & Jean-Jacques: Doisy-Daëne & L’Extravagance 1942-2013](https://vinous.com/articles/pierre-denis-jean-jacques-doisy-daene-l-extravagance-1942-2013-jan-2022), Neal Martin, January 2022



Château Latour: 2022 New Releases - Neal Martin

Château Latour: 2022 New Releases - Neal Martin (Mar 2022)

ConstantScore(-article_id:{312 381 422 466 735 1092 1114 1146 1208 1209 1210 1231 1235 1241 1242 1245 1249 1258 1261 1276 1283 1298 1302 1312 1321 1325 1338 1601 1734 1980 1998 2164 2193 2198 2268 2425 2529 2566 2825 2994 3120 3140 3371 3977 4341} #producer.id:3696 #article_id:[3273 TO 3273])

DocValuesFieldExistsQuery [field=_primary_term]

Latour

Content

Engage

Vinous

Social