Wine Review - 2005 Chateau Latour (Pauillac)

Chateau Latour is one of the exulted First-Growth Bordeaux from France. It is one of the most highly revered wineries in the world. The 05’s have just been released and aren’t really meant for drinking right now, but here are some notes on what it tastes like today.

This is a profound wine, with a gorgeous ruby color, intense, complex nose; tremendous focus and purity of taste; and a finish like a long drum roll. Harmonious balance of intense, rich blackberry fruit, oak and earth heightened by perfect acidity and tannins. Intricate, like an engraved coil, necessitating small, thoughtful sips. Impeccably made. This bottle could use about another 20 to 30 years of ageing before it reaches it peak potential and can be picked up for the price of $1,950.

For those of you who have read a few of my wine reviews, you will notice that is not my style of writing or my style of describing a wine. That is because I have not actually tasted this wine even though I would love to! But if you were paying attention you noticed that the bottle costs $1,950! Yes, almost 2k! This wine review is from the world famous wine couple Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher of the Wall Street Journal. They had a great article about inflation and wine in last week’s Tastings edition. The same bottle from 04 was priced around $400 this time last year. That is one hell of a jump in price from one year to the next!

I have tasted every wine that I have posted a review for except this one. But I wanted to show people how outrageously expensive a label and a classification can be. Also, I wanted to show you what a profession wine writer had to say about one of the famed First-Growth wines. The First-Growth wines have been found to be the best wines in the world, but do they really deserve a $2,000 price tag? Inflation has hit the bottle in a major way for the big time wineries. No one will say for sure if these wines are worth the money, especially not the French. But these wines are not made for the average or even above average wine drinker. These wines are made for the extreme upper crust of society and price is not an issue for them. It is all about status and prestige. As much as I would love to taste one of these First-Growth wines, I don’t see it happening anytime soon. So I will get back to reviewing wines that are affordable and ready to drink now. But it is nice to dream!

Cheers!