The 1996 Château Latour is a wine of impressive structure and long-term aging potential. With its deep, concentrated profile, the wine opens with notes of blackcurrants, cigar wrapper, and loamy soil, evolving over time to reveal a harmonious balance of ripe tannins and acidity. The palate is vibrant, with a firm, yet increasingly silky texture, while the finish is long and penetrating. This wine is a perfect example of Latour’s ability to create wines with a deep concentration of fruit, underpinned by a classic tannic structure. Although still youthful, it’s beginning to show its promise and will continue to evolve beautifully over the coming decades.

Decanter | D 98
Published: Jan 4, 2021
Drink: 2023-2040

Inky black even at 25 years old. A hugely impressive wine, with plenty of chewy tannins still in play, ripples of cassis, bilberry and blackberry fruits, set against olive paste, charcoal and eucalyptus. Things have softened around the edges no question, this is still full of life with decades ahead of it, but this is a great moment to start enjoying its promise. Textbook Latour in many ways, for its austerity and power, and its serious character that is underlaid by concentrated pleasure showcasing 'the gift of sub-gravel clays'. 56% of overall production in the first wine. 1% Petit Verdot completes the blend. Last released in 2014 as an ex-château wine.

Closure: Natural Cork
Alcohol: 13.00%
Body: Full
Oak: Oaked
Grapes: 4% Cabernet Franc 78% Cabernet Sauvignon 17% Merlot

The Wine Advocate | RP 95+
Published: March 1, 2022
Drink: 2025-2065

From my cellar, the 1996 Latour is still a very youthful, tightly wound wine, unfurling in the glass with notions of blackcurrants, loamy soil, cigar wrapper and English walnuts. Medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, it's built around by ripe, increasingly melting tannins and a bright spine of acidity, concluding with a long, penetrating finish. Given this Latour's ruby-black hue and impeccable structure, it still has a long future ahead of it. Today, it really begins to expatiate after four hours in a decanter.

Jamessuckling.com | JS 94
Published: Jul 1, 2016

This was a wine that was very hyped and always excellent. But now it shows the reality of the wet and cold vintage. Lots of basil leaf, lemon grass, and sage aromas with currant undertones. Medium body, fine tannins and a fresh finish. Now at its best. Drink up. 

Jancisrobinson.com | JR 18
Published: Aug 15, 2018
Drink: 2015-2035

Beautifully ornate nose with equal parts stalk, leaf, herb and black fruit. Freshly balanced palate with delicacy and refreshment, and surprising elegance for Pauillac from a big vintage. Wonderful complexity on the finish, earthy and open and meaty on the length. 

Chateau-latour.com

Château Latour’s Grand Vin is made exclusively from “vieilles vignes”, an average of 60 years-old, in the Enclos. Gravettes, Sarmentier, Pièce de Château... these are the names of some of the finest plots that express the character of the terroir and forge the wine’s identity every year.

The heart of the Enclos is the only terroir that, every year, can produce the depth, elegance and concentration that we expect of the Grand Vin. It is here that the Cabernet Sauvignon (accounting for more than 90% of the blend) can achieve optimal expression in terms of colour, richness and freshness. These wines need time - often a decade- before they begin to be ready for drinking.

In great vintages, the power and energy of Château Latour's wines enables them to continue to develop for several decades with ease. The bouquet and impressions on tasting gradually evolve, becoming increasingly complex, ultimately reaching a peak, after which the tannins soften and then the wine slowly declines. Beyond the pleasure of drinking them, these wines can produce powerful feelings and unforgettable moments.

Château Latour is also known for having the ability to produce fine wines even in difficult years.

1996 Wine style - A little austere at first compared to the previous vintage, the concentration of this wine then takes on a delightfully rich aspect: it combines a surprising classic, balanced, solid tannic structure that has perfect, plump tannins thanks to a superb maturity, with very pure fruit. A wine that will keep for a very long time!