Chateau Latour Les Forts de Latour 2019

97 POINTS

James Suckling

Exquisite aromas of lavender, cigar ash and Spanish cedar with dried citrus follow through to a medium body and a solid palate with powerful, ultrafine and linear tannins. The muscle and long finish are so beautiful. Give it two or three years but already a solid wine. Drink after 2028.

95 POINTS

William Kelley - Robert Parker Wine Advocate

The 2019 Les Forts de Latour appears to have tightened up a little since I last tasted it a few years ago. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of sweet cassis fruit mingled with hints of cedar, iris, orange zest and new oak, it's medium to full-bodied, lively and nicely concentrated, with a ripe core of fruit underpinned by chalky structuring tannins. While it's approachable after a decant, it certainly merits additional patience. As readers will remember, this bottling mostly derives from dedicated parcels located further inland from Latour's famous "Enclos," next to Château Haut-Batailley.

95 POINTS

Antonio Galloni MW - Vinous

The 2019 Les Forts de Latour is a powerhouse. Dark and ample in the glass, the Forts de Latour shows all of its natural breadth in 2019, but amplified to a considerable degree. The 2019 is an especially somber Forts endowed with tons of richness as well as structure. Blue/purplish fruit, lavender, spice, menthol, chocolate and licorice build into the substantial finish. The 2019 is shaping up to be a jewel of a wine.

94 POINTS

Peter Moser - Falstaff

Deep dark ruby, opaque core, purple reflections, delicate rim brightening. Smoky and savoury, fine oak nuances, a hint of black cherry, liquorice and juniper. Complex, blackberry fruit, fresh structure, integrated tannins, mineral, appears slimmer than expected, red cherry on the finish, salty and lemon aftertaste, already easy to drink.

94 POINTS

Peter Moser - Falstaff

Dark ruby, purple reflections, ochre highlights. Delicately leafy savouriness, blackberries, subtle cassis, a hint of orange zest, some graphite, multi-faceted bouquet. Juicy, red cherries, subtle fruit expression, lively structure, spicy on the finish, an animating food wine that should be decanted for a few hours. (1/2025, +30), Available from March 2025.

94 POINTS

Neal Martin - Vinous

The 2019 Les Forts de Latour has an open nose, strangely perhaps a little more expressive than the 2020 Pauillac de Latour at the moment. Scents of blackberry, cassis and iris flower unfold in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with crushed stone infusing the black fruit. This has attained more linearity since I encountered it in January 2023. The 2019 will give two or three decades of pleasurable drinking.

93 POINTS

Neal Martin - Vinous

The 2019 Les Forts de Latour has a lovely nose with copious black cherry and cassis scents, quite floral; the new oak beautifully integrated. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins, fine-boned and exquisite in terms of balance, quite tensile towards the mineral-driven finish. One of the most elegant Pauillacs in this vintage. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting.

93 POINTS

Jane Anson - Decanter

Gorgeous violet-edged rim to this wine which is pretty closed up for a young Forts, showing great structure, serious in approach. It opens up slowly with plum, damson and cassis fruits, glass-staining and very much showing signs that this will age well. 70% new oak (a little more than in previous years but with a softer level of toast), tannin index of 74IPT. 39% of production.