1996 Les Forts de Latour

"Our 1998 has that old classic Latour masculinity," says director Christian Le Sommer, who compared it to the 1970 at a similar stage. The estate brought in a good portion of its merlot under dry conditions, with ripe sugars in the 12.5% range, then harvested cabernet sauvignon into early October, with potential alcohol of around 10.8%-"average for our terroir," according to Le Sommer. "Here 11% is a great vintage." Polyphenol levels were high; some cuvees had huge tannins in '98, even more than in '90.

Commercial director Frederic Engerer told me he is not at all convinced that the late-picked fruit is better in '97. It depends on the site and the terroir, he explained. "In many instances we did not get an important increase in alcohol or acidity with the late-picked cabernet sauvignon." Just 49% of the 1997 crop went into the grand vin, according to director Christian Le Sommer. Le Sommer points out that '96 and '95 are more concentrated and structured than 1997, and that the two earlier years have somewhat higher and roughly equal tannin levels. "But '96 retains a bit more of its fruit today, though it may disappear temporarily after the bottling, as the '95 has done." I found both of these wines among the five or six best wines of their respective vintages. Don't hesitate to buy this estate third wine, simply labelled Pauillac: it has nearly as much Pauillac character as some of the appellation's classified growths, at a considerably lower price.