Description
At 45 years old, this bottle, from a West Sussex country house cellar, is in remarkably good order.
Level (see photo) is VTS, the (slightly glue striped) label is complete and all is topped by a good intact capsule.
Fine & Rare Wines are listing a bottle ay £360 + VAT = £446...the only one currently available on Wine Searcher..
Robert Parker / The Wine Advocate
Tasted from my personal cellar, the 1971 Latour is undoubtedly the wine of the Medoc, and possibly the wine of the vintage (Petrus and Trotanoy are also splendid efforts). Drinkable young, it has continued to evolve, offering extraordinary aromatic complexity as well as surprisingly deep, concentrated flavors atypical for the vintage.
A dark opaque garnet color with amber at the edge is followed by a spectacular bouquet of dried herbs, cedar, smoky black fruit, and coffee. Rich, but structured, with moderate tannin, this medium-bodied, elegant yet complex wine possesses a sweet mid-palate in addition to a long, concentrated finish with abundant tannin. This underrated 1971 has been fully mature for over a decade, but it reveals no signs of cracking up or becoming attenuated. Anticipated maturity: now-2012.
Neal Martin 93
Tasted blind from magnum at the chateau, this is certainly the best bottle I have had of the ’71, generally agreed to be the finest Left Bank of an average vintage. At first, it is a little subdued on the nose but unfurls in the glass to reveal notes of graphite, tobacco and liquorice. In fact, leaving it in my glass it offers an intriguing cola note. The palate is tannic and vibrant, dry and a little austere at first by mellowing with aeration with black pepper, graphite and crushed stone towards the finish. Linear and correct, this is an upstanding classic Latour that you will loathe if you dislike traditional Bordeaux. Tasted June 2011