What is rare wine #2 “Château Latour”? Explanation of price and winning year

In the second article, we will introduce "Château Latour".
It is a well-known prestigious chateau that is famous all over the world from Burgundy.
If you're a wine lover, you've probably heard at least the name.

There are many reasons behind Chateau Latour becoming famous.
This article provides a detailed explanation of the characteristics, history, and manufacturing methods of Chateau Latour.

What is Chateau Latour? Explain the features

"Château Latour" is a prestigious family that occupies one of the five major chateaus.
It produces the richest and richest wine of the five major chateaus, and is captivated by red wine lovers around the world.
By the way, "Latour" means "tower" in French.
This is widely known as Chateau Latour etiquette.

Due to its rich tannin content, it is suitable for aging.
It is an extremely long-lived wine that can be aged for over 50 years if the conditions are right.

Latour, which has been aged for a long time, seems to be priced comparable to Romanée-Conti.
In some cases, the price can be close to 900,000 yen.

By the way, there is a "ranking" for Château Latour's wines.
The one that reigns at the top is the one bearing the phrase "Grand Vin."
Only grapes from vines over 10 years old are used for Grand Vin.
Furthermore, unless it meets the Grand Vin quality standards, it will not be given the Grand Vin name.

If the Grand Vin criteria are not met,

• Les Forts de Latour
• Le Pauillac de Latour

will be given the name.
When you express it like this, you might think, ``If it's not a Grand Vin, it doesn't seem like a big deal.''
However, both are extremely high-level red wines, even if they are not grand vins.
The manufacturing method is almost the same, so it retains the characteristics of Chateau Latour.

Hugh Johnson, the world's best sommelier, praised Latour, calling him ``an immortal presence.''
It has also been praised in all aspects by Robert Parker, who is famous for his harsh opinions.

What does Chateau Latour taste like?

The taste of Chateau Latour can be summed up in one word: the world's best red wine.
It has the most powerful and profound flavor among the five major chateaus, and is very masculine.
Overwhelming presence of tannins, bursting fruit flavor, and a heavy finish.
Once you smell the flavor, which combines delicacy and grandeur, you will never forget it.

In the words of Hugh Johnson, "The most concentrated, rich, full-bodied wine in the world."
It has an overwhelming depth of complex elements that can only be expressed by a sommelier.

It is also famous for evolving into a new dimension as it ages.
It changes to a rounded taste with no edges, showing off a powerful yet elegant and luxurious side.

Also, among the five major chateaus, it is rated as ``unaffected by vintage and has a stable taste (quality)''.
In particular, there are very few ``bad years,'' and there is a tendency for crops to continue clearing a certain number of hurdles every year.
As will be discussed later, the production environment at Chateau Latour is extremely favorable, and it is unlikely that it will have a "missing year."
In addition, thorough quality control and skilled manufacturing methods can be said to enhance the stability of Chateau Latour.

Tracing the history of Latour

Château Latour dates back to the 16th century.
Latour had already appeared in a book written by the philosopher Montaigne.

In the late 17th century, the Ségur family, known as an important figure in the wine world, inherited Château Latour.
Under the hands of the Ségur family, Latour gained great attention.
The vineyard, which was once a very limited area, was expanded with the capital of the Ségur family, and Château Latour gained momentum.

Thomas Jefferson, then U.S. Prime Minister, highly praised Latour.
His comments led to Latour being traded for many times his price.

In 1855, it was finally given the honor of being a "first-class chateau" (one of the four major chateaus at the time).
Since then, Latour's fame has only continued to grow.
In particular, the fact that it is ``stable with no vintage quality'' led to extremely high praise.

In 1963, Château Latour leaves the Ségur family.
The new owner is the British company Pearson Group.

Chateau Latour is also known for incorporating cutting-edge manufacturing methods and methods one after another.
Among the five major chateaus, it was the first to modernize and introduced stainless steel tanks at an early stage.

Furthermore, in 2000, we boldly remodeled our production facilities under a plan called the To Kalon Project.
The new production equipment will allow us to create a new era of manufacturing methods based on computer control.
Château Latour was also very early in the industry to adopt this.
Of course, cultivation and brewing techniques continue to improve at the same time, and the system is worthy of the honor of being one of the top five chateaus in every respect.

In 2012, the company withdrew from en primeur (wine futures trading) to focus on improving quality.
This was met with surprise by the wine industry.

In 2018, we will begin to shift to "biodynamic" ahead of the times.
It is difficult for large chateaus to transition to biodynamics, but it can be said that Château Latour's flexibility is evident in this area.

Today, Château Latour continues to move forward.
Chateau Latour's true value lies in its attitude of always taking on challenges, without being bound by the laurels of being one of the top five chateaus or by old ideas.

Chateau Latour production environment

Château Latour is located at the southernmost tip of Bordeaux.
Grapes are cultivated using carefully selected methods in a vast 47-hectare vineyard called "L'Inclos".

The soil in Lanclos is an extremely ideal clay type.
The clay continues to supply abundant moisture to the grapes.
As mentioned earlier, this is a stable soil that is unlikely to suffer from severe crop failure.

The Gironde River flows nearby.
The Gironde River is only 300 meters away, and the property is located in a position where you can directly benefit from the river topography.

The presence of the Gironde River is essential, especially when it comes to temperature changes.
It is less susceptible to frost damage, and while other areas have been hit hard, there have been cases where Chateau Latour has been able to get away with just a little damage.

On the other hand, since it is 300m away, there is no risk of water damage.
Rankro is deployed in an extremely exquisite position.

As mentioned earlier, the company's proactive approach to incorporating cutting-edge manufacturing methods stands out.
Thanks to biodynamic farming methods and computer management, the production environment is second to none.

Furthermore, Chateau Latour has already introduced "Gravity Flow".
Gravity Flow is a new production system that uses gravity to move grapes and wine as much as possible, with as little damage as possible.

Chateau Latour believes that ``wine cannot be evaluated once it is in the barrel.''
Therefore, Chateau Latour has a stance of ``waiting to release until it is ready to drink.''

The environment of Château Latour is always kept in perfect condition due to the best natural conditions and the latest technology introduced one after another.

What year is Chateau Latour?

There is no clear "outlier" year for Chateau Latour.
On the other hand, there are "win years".
Every year is a lucky year because of the stable manufacturing method, but in general

1982, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2015

It is said that this is a successful year.

These are traded at high prices of over 100,000 yen each.
These vintages are arguably the best in the world, both in name and in reality.
It's not something I can get my hands on very often, but I'd like to try it at least once.

Chateau Latour is a rare wine that can be drunk at a low price　

Château Latour Grand Vin sometimes fetches outrageous prices.

The cheapest price is around 80,000 yen, which is a difficult price range to get your hands on.

However, the second model, ``Les Forts de Latour,'' can be obtained for as little as 30,000 yen.
Even though it does not use the Grand Vin name, the manufacturing method is almost the same.
All of them will give you a clear sense of the atmosphere of one of the five major chateaus.

If you can't get your hands on Grand Vin, try something like the ones above.

summary

Chateau Latour continues to reign as one of the five major chateaus.
And even today, we are not satisfied with our current position and continue to explore new possibilities.
Considering that effort and Latour's potential, it's no wonder he would command such a high price.

It may not be realistic to suddenly get a Grand Vin.
However, if you have a second or third Latour, you should be able to easily try it.

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