Les Forts de Latour 2018

Les Forts de Latour is the second wine of Château Latour, a premier cru estate founded in the seventeenth century and set about 300 metres from the Gironde estuary in the Médoc. It is built largely from a defined group of plots outside the Grand Vin's core enclos, plus declassified parcels, and made to a similar standard. The deep gravel croupes here drain freely and hold warmth, helping the late-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon finish in a cool maritime climate, while the estuary buffers temperature swings and frost. Poor topsoil pushes the roots into the clay and limestone beneath, which gives the wine its backbone and mineral cut. The blend leads with Cabernet Sauvignon alongside Merlot and Cabernet Franc, fermented plot by plot and barrel aged in French oak, where malolactic fermentation rounds the acidity and slow oxygen exchange firms the tannin and adds cedar, tobacco and graphite. The 2018 is deep ruby. The nose shows blackcurrant, red currant and cherry with cedar, tobacco and a graphite minerality. The palate is full bodied and structured, with fine, firm tannin, fresh acidity and a long savoury finish. Decant well ahead and serve at 17 to 18 degrees. Made for red meat and aged cheese.