1976 Chateau Latour, Pauillac, Bottle (750ml)

This is from that era when Latour made good wines in virtually every vintage and the 1976 is an eminently satisfying and complete wine. There is not quite the customary mid-palate amplitude here as in most vintages of Latour, but the wine is poised, complex and very refined and is the star of the vintage, alongside Ausone and Lafite. The bouquet offers up a fully mature blend of backed cassis, cigar ash, gravel, tobacco leaf, a nice touch of walnut and trace elements of iron. On the palate the wine is full, complex and beautifully soil-driven in personality, with a good, but not great core, melted tannins and fine focus and grip on the long and beautifully balanced finish. A superb 1976. (JG)"
Chateau Latour, Premier Cru Classe, Pauillac