Chateau Latour Les Forts de Latour 2014

- 93 Punkte Robert Parkers WINE ADVOCATE, Lisa Perrotti-Brown: "The 2014 Les Forts de Latour is a blend of 71.4% Cabernet Sauvignon and 28.6% Merlot. Deep garnet-purple colored, it needs a little coaxing to reveal expanding scents of blackcurrant pastilles, baked plums and boysenberries with suggestions of wood smoke, fragrant earth, cast-iron pan and charcuterie plus a faint waft of black truffles. Medium-bodied, the earthy/savory palate has loads of lively black fruit with a refreshing line and firm, grainy tannins, finishing on a lingering ferrous note."

- 93 Punkte WINE ENTHUSIAST, Roger Voss: "Packed with the fruit of the vintage, this wine is bright and crisp. Its acidity and pure black-currant flavors are delicious, juicy, the tannins now sitting easily in the background. The wine, which comes from a specific parcel, is developing well and will be released after 2020. It should be drunk from 2023."

- 92 Punkte WINESPECTATOR, James Molesworth: "Offers a core of pure cassis and blackberry fruit, with mouthwatering streaks of graphite and anise. Racy-edged, featuring ample grip buried through the finish. Reveals a violet echo for good measure. Textbook. Best from 2018 through 2030. 9,022 cases made."

- 93 Punkte VINOUS, Neal Martin: "The 2014 Les Forts de Latour is one of those wines that deserves an hour to open and then observe it coalescing in the glass. The bouquet is initially high-toned and then mellow to reveal attractive scents of red fruit, cedar and incense. The palate is maybe a more malleable than I anticipated, clearly a Les Forts that is primed for drinking, although there is sufficient depth to suggest that it will give 15 years of pleasure, maybe more. Suave and surprisingly rounded for a 2014, this is a fine late released Deuxième Vin from the First Growth although I uphold my remark in my previous notes that I would have liked more Pauillac DNA. Tasted from ex-château bottle."

- 17,5+ Punkte JANCIS ROBINSON: "Frédéric Engerer stressed how 'fabulous' the end of the 2014 growing season was. See this report on the vintage by Bill Blatch. Fruit for Les Forts is drawn from specific plots outside the heartland Enclos that supplies the grand vin. Some, such as Comtesse de Lalande, Petit Batailley and Ste-Anne, have been owned by the estate for decades and benefit from 40-year-old vines. But Latour has been acquisitive recently and plots such as the seven hectares on gravel in Artigues were bought as recently as 2005. Young-vine produce also goes into Les Forts, as does any wine deemed not up to scratch for the grand vin. Les Forts is made just like the grand vin except that generally only about 50% new oak is used, and the Merlot portion is usually as much as 25–30%.
Very dark crimson. So Latour  – essence of Pauillac – on the nose. Very firm, concentrated and mineral. Fresh and racy. This is remarkably smooth on the finish. More suave than the Pauillac 2015 shown alongside at this London showing prior to release. Really rather lovely and seductive. Long and fresh. There is no doubt that Les Forts is more of a second growth than a second wine."

- 93 Punkte DECANTER, Jane Anson: "Highly enjoyable, has gorgeous elegance and freshness, and is showing better right now than the 2015 Pauillac de Latour. Extremely fresh, hedgerow and cassis bud backed up by richer seams of liquorice and blackberry. Not yet ready but you can see that with a stiff wind and a good carafe, you could get there in the next few years. Tight black spice uncurls to show carefully-delivered smoked cedar on the finish. Drinking Window 2022 – 2038"

- 93 Punkte JEB DUNNUCK: "The second wine of the estate is the 2014 Les Forts De Latour and this beauty is better than most estate grand vin. Made from 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, and the balance Petit Verdot, this straight up classic Pauillac is loaded with notions of red and black currants, lead pencil shavings, roasted coffee, graphite, and Asian spices. Deep, medium to full-bodied, impressively concentrated, and layered, it’s a seriously good wine that’s going to continue drinking beautifully for two to three decades."

- 94 Punkte JAMES SUCKLING: "Glorious aromatics with currants, flowers, stones and light mushrooms. Medium to full body and fine tannins that are long and polished. Super linear, structured and long. Drink in 2019."