Chateau Latour Pauillac 2008 (Ex-Château)

JeffLeve, The Wine Cellar Insider  97 pts

There is a lightening in the color, giving aslight bricking effect. The wine is as concentrated as it is tannic. This isstill youthful, fresh and holding on to most of what it has to offer. There isdefinite power here, and layers of ripe, juicy, dark, red berries. Clearly thiswine has improved over the decade, as you would have expected. But it is stillon the young/semi-strict side, so you should wait another 10 years or more.Utilizing only 40% of the harvest for the Grand Vin, the wine was made by blending94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot, and 1% Cabernet Franc.

Robert Parker 95 pts

Composed of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5%Merlot, 0.75% Cabernet Franc and 0.25% Petit Verdot, the 2008 Latour gives amedium to deep garnet color and slips sensuously out of the glass with Chinesefive spice, unsmoked cigars, sandalwood and dried roses scents over a core ofwarm cassis, Black Forest cake, chocolate mint and smoked meats plus a waft ofblack olives and garrigue. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is well-sustainedin the middle with generous black fruits and lovely red fruit sparks, layeredwith savory nuances and a firm, grainy backbone, finishing with bags of perfumeand freshness.

James Suckling  95 pts

Gorgeous aromas. Sandalwood and flowers, soperfumed and beautiful. Spices and currants with cassis too. Amazing nose. Suchbeauty and density with an iron and pure fruit character. Solid and racy. Bestafter 2015.

WineEnthusiast  95pts

Barrel sample. Elegance and fruit are thehallmarks at Latour in 2008. The tannins are present, but subdued. The balanceis what is impressive, with tight ripe fruits, nothing over-stated.

Jean-MarcQuarin  95 pts

CellarTracker  95 pts

WineSpectator  94pts

This is dense and muscular, butbalanced, with the flesh to offset the sinew, as pure mulled black currant,melted fig and crushed plum fruit is caressed by substantial but fine-grainedstructure. The long, iron- and tobacco-filled finish has excellent focus anddrive. This could rival LLC for longest-lived wine of the vintage. Best from2013 through 2022.

JancisRobinson  17.5 /20

VinumWine Magazine  17/20