Quality 953 | Brand 998 | Economics 922 | buzz brand, investment staple
Quality: Predicted life of 20 years, one of the longest drinking windows in its peer group for the 1999 vintage, which averages 9 years Brand: Strong restaurant presence, featuring on 52 of the world's top wine lists, including Napa Wine Bar & Kitchen Economics: #2 most active wine at auction, its top 5 vintages having seen 4,896 75cl equivalent bottles traded in the past year Production: Lower production than its peer group average of 151,058 bottles

- www.wine-lister.com June 2017

Reminding me slightly of the 2001, the 1999 Château Latour offers an utterly classic Latour elegance and complex in its beautiful dark fruits, lead pencil, cedarwood, dried tobacco, and assorted spice-like aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied on the palate, it has a balanced, mature, seamless mouthfeel, polished and integrated tannins, and a great finish. It's not a blockbuster but excels on its finesse and complexity. I was able to follow this bottle for two days, and it never showed a hint of oxidation or fatigue, and unquestionably has another two decades of longevity. There's no need to delay gratification, however, since this beauty is drinking at point. Aug 2021

Readers looking for a modern day version of Latour's magnificent 1962 or 1971 should check out the sensational 1999 Latour. It is a big, concentrated offering, exhibiting a dense ruby/purple color, and a classic nose of minerals, black currants, leather, and vanilla. The wine is long, ripe, and medium-bodied, with high levels of sweet tannin. This surprisingly full, concentrated 1999 should be drinkable in 5-6 years; it will last for three decades. Drink: 2007 - 2032.

Robert Parker (Wine Advocate #140, Apr 2002)

Focused and fresh, with milk chocolate and berry aromas. Subtle and refined on the nose. Full-bodied and very elegant, featuring a solid core of ultrafine tannins and a long, long finish. So much finesse here. Still tight, needing time in the bottle to open. No longer big, this is in just the right proportions for the vintage.--'89/'99 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2009). James Suckling

Full red-ruby. High-pitched aromas of red- and blackcurrant, minerals and leather. Wonderfully harmonious in the mouth, with compelling sweetness of fruit but also superb grip. A lush, rich wine that already displays impressive inner-mouth perfume. Finishes with broad, essentially gentle tannins. Doesn't quite possess the grip or thrust of the '01, but this is wine-of-the-vintage material.

The 1999 Latour is a vintage that I have not encountered for four or five years. It has a pH of 3.80 and a yield of 38hl/ha, representing 58% of the total crop. Interestingly, this includes 14% vin de presse compared to the 9 to 10% used nowadays. It has a classic Latour bouquet of blackberry, pencil box and undergrowth aromas, quite strict and conservative in style, and fairly intense but not firing on all cylinders; orange zest aromas evolve gradually. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin and nicely detailed, offering blackberry, black truffle, pencil shavings and a touch of spice toward the finish, which shows more grip and density than the 1989 Latour tasted alongside, probably because of that pressed wine. This is beginning to reach its drinking plateau, although judging by this showing it will give another two decades of drinking pleasure. Tasted from an ex-château bottle at the estate.

Close to full maturity, this medium-bodied, forward, early-drinking Latour starts off just fine. But it leaves you wanting more as the finish is too short with a touch of green leaf and cedar to accompany the bright, piquant red fruits you find on the nose and palate. This is not a Latour for the long haul. Tasted Aug 2021