2020 Les Forts de Latour (Pauillac)

The 2020 Les Forts de Latour is superb. Hints of gravel, dried herbs, game and licorice weave through a core of dark red/purplish fruit. Spice, cedar and sweet pipe tobacco follow. The purity of the flavors is just striking. Initially a touch reticent, the 2020 fleshes out beautifully with a bit of air. I would give this at least another year or two in bottle. A magnificent Forts de Latour. 96 points

Love the texture and depth on display from the first momebt (sic), a brilliant vintage to track down a bottle of Les Forts de Latour. This is packed with delicious and sappy blackberry, damson and cassis fruit, coupling concentration and elegance. 3.67ph. 60% new oak for ageing. Helene Genin technical director and estate manager. 95 points

The 2020 Les Forts de Latour is composed of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26.5% Merlot and 3.5% Petit Verdot, incorporating a 64-hectoliter tank of Merlot that would normally have been included in the Grand Vin but which didn`t fit with this year`s blend. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of minty cassis, plums, licorice, pipe tobacco and vanilla pod, it`s medium to full-bodied, rich and velvety, with terrific depth at the core and a somewhat more textural, granular profile than the suave 2019. 94 points