1961 CHÂTEAU LATOUR 1961

(08-2000) A blockbuster. Amazingly youthful, yet complex and complete on the palate. Aromas of mint, berries,currant and minerals follow through to a thick and caressing, full-bodied palate. Superlong and superripe. Got to love this. Will it age forever?

(09-2007)

(06-2011) Tasted blind at the chateau, it is always a privilege to taste a legend with perfect provenance, although I could not bring myself to describe it as a perfect wine. But is does possess and ethereal bouquet that has laser-like focus: notes of pencil lead, mint, blackberry and limestone. Intriguingly there is a touch of menthol that emerges with aeration, which reminded me of the ’45. The palate has an otherworldly intensity to it with vibrant black fruit, an arching framework of tannins, brilliant minerality and sense of precision on the finish that is captivating. It has become more elegant in recent years, perhaps three-quarters of the way through its drinking plateau. But few wines have a drinking plateau as long as this one. Tasted June 2011.

(04-2022) That's not a wine, that's 1961 Latour, which means this is in a class all by itself. The wine is incredibly powerful, dense, and intense. There is so much concentration here, your palate is coated with its layers of rocks, stones, gravel, spice, earth, and chewy, red fruits. There is a refined quality to the waves of black and red currants that you cannot find in other wines. The finish starts strong and amazingly, it builds, expands and adds complexities as it lingers, long after the wine has left the glass.

(02-2019) Strong crimson garnet, subtle ocher reflections, wide edge brightening. Sweet cherry fruit, fine herbal spices, tobacco nuances, black berries underlined. Juicy, fine extract sweetness, elegant, ripe tannins, good acid structure, mineral, firm, looks very youthful, black cherries and fine cassis in the aftertaste, has further aging potential. A majestic, perfectly aged wine. Peter Moser