Chateau Latour 2010

100 POINTS

Carla Capalbo - Decanter

Just over a third of the harvest made it into the grand vin to give a wine of startling concentration and purity, with lovely, forward cassis fruit and a hint of spice on the attack. The texture is fresh but not overly tannic, and there is a surprisingly sweet, silky feel cloaking the powerful extract. Best to wait another decade before trying this, but it will last a half-century beyond that. Moderate temperatures followed a flowering disrupted slightly by cool weather and rain. The summer was dry and sunny, if somewhat cool. The Merlot was picked beginning on the 20th of September and the Cabernet 4th of October. The final blend is just over 90% Cabernet Sauvignon with most of the balance being Merlot

100 POINTS

James Suckling

The aromas of flowers such as roses, violets and lilacs jump from the glass then turn to dark berries such as blueberries and blackberries. It's full-bodied, with velvety tannins and dense and intense with a chocolate, berry and currant character. This is juicy and rich with wood still showing a bit, but it's all coming together wonderfully. Muscular yet toned

100 POINTS

Robert Parker - Wine Advocate

One of the perfect wines of the vintage, Frederic Engerer challenged me when I tasted the 2010 Latour at the estate, asking, "If you rate the 2009 one hundred, then how can this not be higher?" Well, the scoring system stops at 100, (and has for 34 years,) and will continue for as long as I continue to write about wine. Nevertheless, this blend of 90.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9.5% Merlot, and .5% Petit Verdot hit 14.4% natural alcohol and represents a tiny 36% of their entire production. The pH is about 3.6, which is normal compared to the 3.8 pH of the 2009, that wine being slightly lower in alcohol, hence the combination that makes it more flamboyant and accessible. The 2010 is a liquid skyscraper in the mouth, building layers upon layers of extravagant, if not over-the-top richness with its hints of subtle charcoal, truffle, blackberry, cassis, espresso and notes of toast and graphite. Full-bodied, with wonderfully sweet tannin, it is a mind-boggling, prodigious achievement that should hit its prime in about 15 years, and last for 50 to 100.

100 POINTS

Neal Martin - Vinous

The 2010 Latour is conspicuously deep in colour. It has an intellectual, intense and captivating bouquet with mineral-rich black fruit, graphite and crushed rose petal scents. Utterly spellbinding. The palate is the real deal. Heavenly balance, perfect acidity with seamlessly integrated new oak, there is an enthralling crescendo towards a finish that is simply as good as Bordeaux gets. Impeccable

100 POINTS

Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW - Wine Advocate

The 2010 Latour is deep garnet in color, and—WOW—it erupts from the glass with powerful crème de cassis, Black Forest cake and blackberry pie scents plus intense sparks of dried roses, cigar boxes, fragrant earth and smoked meats with aniseed and crushed rocks wafts. Full-bodied, concentrated and oh-so-decadent in the mouth, it has a firm, grainy texture and lovely freshness carrying the rich, opulent fruit to an epically long finish. It is incredibly tempting to drink now, but I suspect this hedonic experience isn't a scratch on the mind-blowing, otherworldly secrets this time capsule will have to reveal given another 7-10 years in bottle and continuing over the following fifty years++.

100 POINTS

Jane Anson - Decanter

I get the same peony and violet aromatics here as I did in Forts de Latour. This is powerful, muscular, not even getting close to being ready. The tannins crowd in from the mid palate onwards, extremely physical in the way they make their presence felt. Behind them, if you give the wine enough time in the glass, it gives black pepper spice, pencil lead, slate and compressed earth, along with cassis, bilberry and all the tight compact dark-berried fruits you can think of. Don't even consider this for another five years at least. This is a monumental Latour and a flashing signpost for how good this vintage is in Pauillac.

98 POINTS

Jane Anson - New Bordeaux

Spiced damson clear from the first moment, stroked satin in texture, loading up on cassis and bilberry fruits. The smoky, spicy side comes out after 15 to 20 minutes in the glass, along with smoked earth and turmeric. Huge amounts of crayon and pencil lead follow, this has less floral nuance than comparable vintages such as Latour 2016, which comes after full conversion to organic and biodynamic farming. What you get instead is utterly classic old school Latour from top to bottom, every inch powerful, muscular, stately. 2010 was a hydric stress year, with very little rain, in comparison to 2009 where the stress came from heat, and it is developing exactly as promised, which means slowly but surely, with the tannic architecture still brooding at 12 years old. At the very beginning of its drinking window, and on this showing just a nudge below the 2009 Latour, which I tasted in the same week. 36% of overall production.

Julia Harding MW - JancisRobinson.com

Tasted blind. Deepest garnet. Opaque core. Minty cassis and lots of sweetness. Powerful, dense, compact. Nowhere near ready. Massive power and yet it is balancing the fruit and the structure. Closed. Keep away. Score: 18.5++/20