Les Forts de Latour 2020

Deep color and a dark-fruited nose: ripe fruit, a slightly cool fireplace note, black tea. The palate is dense and fleshy, with generous fruit, ultra-fine tannins and great balance. A wine with real character, surprisingly approachable, and very long on the finish. Ready to drink now, with excellent aging potential.

The 2020 Les Forts de Latour is composed of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26.5% Merlot and 3.5% Petit Verdot, incorporating a 64-hectoliter tank of Merlot that would normally have been included in the Grand Vin but which didn't fit with this year's blend. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of minty cassis, plums, licorice, pipe tobacco and vanilla pod, it's medium to full-bodied, rich and velvety, with terrific depth at the core and a somewhat more textural, granular profile than the suave 2019.

93–95. Barrel Sample. The wine's black currant fruits are sustained through the structure and the wine's great concentration. With delicious freshness at the same time as the vibrant fruit, this second wine of Latour is very fine and ready to age.

Dark fruits on the nose with purple violet floral reflections, milk chocolate and cocoa touches give hints of savoury complexity on the nose. Pumped, alive and round, this is full in the mouth, supple but with high acidity. Round and textured in the mouth with powdery, crushed velvet tannins giving the depth and width. Round, bright, vivacious, plump and juicy. Joyful but still cool and fresh with salty stone elements, blue fruits as well as plums and blackcurrants with cola touches. I really like this, feels really well worked, very complete, lively, energetic, and detailed. 3.7pH

Blue fruits and lead pencil come through here. Medium to full body. Firm and silky tannins and a crisp and citrusy finish. Nice zest. Floral and fruity. Al dente fruit. Needs four or five years to show its excellence. Try after 2028.

Tasted blind. Very dark crimson. Pure, fragrant dark fruit. Harmonious, succulent with beautifully fine tannins. Immense refinement and length without sheer mass. (JH)

The 2020 Les Forts de Latour has a fresh, delineated, precise and focused bouquet of graphite-infused black fruit. The oak is neatly integrated. The palate is medium-bodied with sapid black fruit, fine depth and ample grip. This builds momentum toward a structured finish, with a dash of spice lingering on the aftertaste. Excellent. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

Refined, elegant, fresh, vibrant, chewy currants, spice, leafy herbs, flowers, and crisp, red berries with a sense of vibrancy in the nose and on the palate. Elegant in style, with good energy and refinement, there is a nice touch of oceanic influences that comes through with its lift and freshness in the finish. Drink from 2027-2045.

More depth and darker fruit, graphite, mild toast, mocha, pure cassis, cherry and stone flavours with a wealth of polished tannin, ample and mouth filling without opulence and a very nice length, linear and pure.

Kunz Fassprobe 2021: A dense, deep, powerful, dark bouquet with blackcurrant, licorice, resin, plums, dried fruit, graphite, and mint. A dense, velvety, fruity palate with powerful dark fruit, plenty of fine tannins, a velvety, muscular structure, a complex, dark, concentrated aromatic profile, and a long, creamy, fresh finish.

Dense, profound, powerful, dark bouquet: blackcurrant, licorice, resin, plums, dried fruits, graphite, mint. Dense, velvety, fruit-driven palate with powerful dark fruit, plenty of fine tannins, a velvety, muscular structure, a layered, dark, concentrated aromatic profile, and a long, creamy, fresh finish. 18/20 2026 - 2038

Love the texture and depth on display from the first moment, a brilliant vintage to track down a bottle of Les Forts de Latour. This is packed with delicious and sappy blackberry, damson and cassis fruit, coupling concentration and elegance. 3.67 pH. 60% new oak for ageing. Hélène Genin, technical director and estate manager.

A blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26.5% Merlot, and 3.5% Petit Verdot, the 2020 Les Forts de Latour is deep garnet-purple colored. The nose is very closed to begin, slowly offering glimpses at crushed blackberries, mulberries, and cassis notes, followed by hints of aniseed, black truffles, and underbrush. The medium-bodied palate is very tightly wound with loads of vibrant black fruit and earthy layers and a firm, grainy backbone, finishing long with a compelling lift.

A playful, enticing bouquet with clear, savory, floral and, of course, fruity aromas, along with notes of dark chocolate and aromatic herbs. A confident presence on the palate for this poised, graceful wine. A freshness that gives the impression the wine sits high on the palate. A deliciously indulgent finish. A wine of great class.

The bouquet of Les Forts de Latour is striking for its intensity and its clear emphasis on freshness, with notes of ivy and eucalyptus, while the more reductive, graphite-like character is also clearly highlighted. In fact, it seems to me that the wine wants to show just how fresh it is, even in a context of ripeness. The power on the palate is beautifully wrapped, while the acidic structure works in the background, reining in the breadth on display. A powerful, linear wine that is beginning to reveal itself, underscoring its ambition to follow in the grand vin’s footsteps when it comes to ageing potential. It finishes on freshness, with a saline touch and plenty of persistence.