Les Forts de Latour, Pauillac, 2019, 75cl

The 2019 Les Forts de Latour appears to have tightened up a little since I last tasted it a few years ago. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of sweet cassis fruit mingled with hints of cedar, iris, orange zest and new oak, it's medium to full-bodied, lively and nicely concentrated, with a ripe core of fruit underpinned by chalky structuring tannins. While it's approachable after a decant, it certainly deserves additional patience. As readers will remember, this bottling mostly derives from dedicated parcels located further inland from Latour's famous "Enclos," next to Château Haut-Batailley.- William Kelley, Wine Advocate

Exquisite aromas of lavender, cigar ash and Spanish cedar with dried citrus follow through to a medium body and a solid palate with powerful, ultrafine and linear tannins. The muscle and long finish are so beautiful. Give it two or three years but already a solid wine. Drink after 2028.

Dark ruby, purple reflections, ocher highlights. Delicately leafy savouriness, blackberries, subtle cassis, a hint of orange zest, some graphite, multi-faceted bouquet. Juicy, red cherries, subtle fruit expression, lively structure, spicy on the finish, an animating food wine that should be decanted for a few hours. (1/2025, +30), Available from March 2025.

Restrained and more subdued than the Pauillac de Latour, but this has momentum and character, and is lip-smackingly moreish. Brambled blackberry fruits are constrained within sinewy and fairly serious tannins, with liquorice, tobacco, slate, rosemary and truffle. Not the concentration of a vintage like 2016 in this wine, but hard to argue with, and should be ready to drink within five or six years. 70% new oak, 39% of production.