Nigh Unto Perfect
2016 Ch Latour, 2019 Forts de Latour + 2022 Ch d'Yquem - ALL ARE ALREADY IN THE US VIA AIRFREIGHT AND WILL HAVE NO TARIFF. We have sold out of our initial allocation, but have secured some more.
March 29, 2025
In my career, I have not seen such unanimously praised releases from two of the best-in-class Bordeaux wineries, Chateau Latour and Chateau d’Yquem.
2016 Ch Latour
Chateau Latour does not participate in the annual en primeur campaign along with the rest of Bordeaux. Instead they prefer to hold back the wines until they feel they are ready.
The reviews of the 2016 remind me of the legendary 1959 I tasted in the 70s. Every critic I have read echoes the same descriptors. All give the wine their highest rating. For example
NEAL MARTIN Vinous, February 2025
The 2016 Latour is a vintage that I have tasted a couple of times post-bottling. On one occasion, it warranted a perfect score, but that was then moot since this vintage had not been released. Now that it is due to hit the shelves this coming March, does the wine still merit that three-digit accolade? Without question, yes. Deep lucid deep purple in color, it seems to shimmer in the glass. The bouquet plays with you, a bit of a femme fatale, distant for the first few minutes. Then, it magically coalesces and gains incredible intensity with blackberry, pencil lead, background hints of oyster shell and notes of Japanese wakame. The aromatics announce exactly which château you are doing business with. The palate is medium-bodied with filigreed tannins, again, as I found before, blessed with beguiling symmetry and ineffable poise. Residing firmly on the black side of the fruit spectrum, there is underlying mineralité. Veins of cassis run through the persistent finish. This is everything you could really wish for in a Latour. The 2016 can be uttered in the same breath as the 1900, 1924, 1959, 1961, 1982 and 2010. Magnificent
Available
1 OWC 3 btl case
1 OWC 6 btl case
Price $749 Net, offered by the single bottle or case
CHATEAU LATOUR “FORTS DE LATOUR” 2019
Forts de Latour might well be called “first among seconds”. I f not quite as layered and complex it has with the same style and power as the Grand Vin. It’s more approachable yet still unmistakenly Latour. This new release is perfect while waiting for the Grand Vin. Reviews are from last month for the wine in bottle.
GEORGINA HINDLE, Decanter
A captivating nose of milk chocolate, cola, cherries, and violets, offering a soft and inviting bouquet. The palate is fully textured, opening gradually to coat the cheeks and tongue in a fine layer of chalky tannins. Juicy and succulent through the mid-palate, it bursts with citrus zest, orange and lemon pith, cranberries, and red cherries. There’s a beautiful interplay of bite and tension, with a sapid freshness and a mineral core of crushed stones and iron. The finish ends bright, minty, and herbal, delivering great drive and persistence.
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.
JANE ANSON
Inky, great depths with a vivid violet rim, this is exceptional, balanced and full of character. Coming out of its serious early years, showing fleshy plum, damson and cassis fruits, along with graphite, slate, fennel and toast. If you like your wines particularly powerful, you can go for it now and over the next few years, but it will age for a good few decades from here. Chiseled, very much speaking of its Pauillac heritage.
Available Two 6-bottle OWC cases
and 3 bottles
Bottle $205 Net
Payment due on confirmation
First come first served
CHATEAU D’YQUEM 2022
It has the highest sugars since the monumental 1945 balanced by a clean acidity. It is a wine for the ages; for you, your children and grandchildren
2022 was a year: with unprecedented heat and a prolonged spell of drought, that produced a powerful, sunny and exuberant Château d’Yquem. Unforgiving for both man and nature, summer 2022 led to the rapid, ripening of the grapes. The outline of a foretold masterpiece was written every day in the vineyard provided that the rain would finally fall, which it did in mid October enabling noble rot to spread rapidly and generously. A further spell of mild weather and a steady southeasterly wind then heralded a magnificent harvest. The legend of 2022 Château d’Yquem carries the promise of a wine with exceptional ageing potential.
Vinous
a blend of 80% Sémillon and 20% Sauvignon Blanc with 160 g/L residual sugar and a total acidity of 5.39 g/L. It is the first certified organic vintage for the estate and has the lowest level of total sulphur ever: 234 g/L, high within the sphere of wine but comparatively low for Sauternes. The 2022 was aged for 24 months in new barrels that underwent slightly less drying than those used for red wines in order to retain some green tannins. Given the growing season, the 2022 Yquem has a surprisingly understated bouquet that demands coaxing. Scents of orange pith, passion fruit and quince are exquisitely defined, a hint of chamomile dancing around in the background. The palate is medium-bodied. Given the high level of residual sugar, what is surprising is that the 2022 does not seem a weighty or texturally unctuous Yquem, yet there is an intensity and concentration that is arresting. Vivid flavours of clementine, wild honey, quince and tangerine that effortlessly combine. The acidity almost nonchalantly counters the sensation of residual sugar, so it feels less than it actually is, the scintilla of salinity toward the finish tempting you back for more. This is a marvelous and quite cerebral Yquem for which patience is required. - Neal Martin
We have two sources for this wine. One is air shipping the wine in a few days to arrive to us by mid-April. No tariff.
The second source will ship in May unless there is a tariff, in which case they will store the until a good time to ship. Please indicate your preference when you order.
Air freight should arrive to us about mid April
Available
One case OWC of 6 full bottles----$360 per bottle Net
Half bottles have sold out
Payment due on confirmation.
We expect to receive these wines in mid-April
FREE DELIVERY!
downtown on orders more than $75;
in Greater Boston on orders more than $199
