In most appraisals of the wine-growing world, the five First Growth Châteaux of the famous 1855 Bordeaux Classification are placed among the very best in the world. Of those, the one that is accorded the top prize in terms of consistency of its red wines is Château Latour.

Château Latour lies at the very southeastern tip of the commune of Pauillac in the Médoc region to the north-west of Bordeaux, at its border with Saint-Julien, and only a few hundred metres from the banks of the Garonne estuary.

The site has been occupied since at least the early 14th century, and in the late 14th century a garrison fort was built 300 metres from the estuary to guard against attack during the Hundred Years War. This tower, the Saint-Maubert Tower or La Tour en Saint-Maubert, gave its name to the estate around the fortress and was in British hands until the Treaty of Castillon in 1453.

The original tower no longer exists, but in the 1620s a circular tower (La Tour de Saint-Lambert) was built on the estate and though it is actually designed as a pigeon roost remains a strong symbol of the vineyard.

Although vines have existed on the site since the 14th century, Latour's history as one of the world's greatest vineyards began in the late 17th century when it was inherited by Alexandre de Ségur, who added Château Lafite in 1716. In 1718 his son Nicolas-Alexandre de Ségur expanded his holdings by purchasing Château Mouton and Château Calon and began producing wines of great quality.

Although lagging behind Château Lafite in terms of standing, the wines of Latour grew in stature and by 1800 were worth twenty times that of standard Bordeaux. Its classification as one of the four First Growths in 1855 assured its continued success and in the 1860s the present château was built.

In 1963 the estate finally left the Ségur family when its heirs sold three quarters of the Château Latour shares to the British companies Harveys of Bristol and the Pearson Group. In 1989 it was purchased by Allied Lyons for around £110 million, and in 1993 returned to French ownership when bought by businessman François Pinault for £86 million.

The current estate has 65 hectares of vines, and produces up to 40,000 cases of wine each year. Its vines are 75 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 20 percent Merlot, and around 2 or 3 percent of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.

The Château makes three principal wines, all red; in addition to its world famous 'Grand Vin de Château Latour', it has produced 'Les Forts de Latour' since 1966, and since 1990 a third simply labelled 'Pauillac'. The Grand Vin is generally 75 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 20 percent Merlot, 4 percent Cabernet Franc and 1 percent Petit Verdot.

Latour's great vintages are famed for their longevity, requiring longer to mature than most other great clarets. It is also known for consistently producing exceptional wines even in comparatively poor vintages, when other vineyards yield only disappointing results. Latour was also the first of the First Growths to modernize their whole production, replacing the old oak fermenting vats with stainless steel in the 1960s.

The greatest vintages for Château Latour include:

• 1949 – "a rare opulence, a voluptuous texture and a succulent finish" Robert Parker
• 1959
• 1961 – consistently listed among the greatest red wines of all time, and awarded 100/100 by Parker. In 2003, a case of twelve bottles was auctioned for $56,400 by the New York branch of Christie's.
• 1982
• 1990 – another huge vintage and one of the most highly-prized of all 20th century wines
• 2000 – One of the best wines grown in this exceptional year

External Link

• Château Latour