Latour 1990 (750ML)

100 WS / 99 DE / 98 WA / 98 VM / 98 JD / 98 RP / 19.5 JR

This is one of my favorite wines ever. Full-bodied, with layers of silky fruit and masses of currant, mineral and berry character. Amazing. It's a wine with perfect structure, perfect strength. It's 1961 Latour in modern clothes. It's hard not to drink it now. '89/'90 Bordeaux non-blind horizontal. -Wine Spectator

A superb wine, ageing well, the 1990 Latour still seems deceptively youthful, with plenty of ripe mulberry and blackcurrant fruit, but there is also a graceful evolution, with truffle, earth and smoke notes. The texture is supple and warm, but it avoids the softness of some of the clarets from 1990. The tannins are still reasonably firm and the wine should continue to improve in the cellar for at least another 20 years.-Charles Curtis MW, Decanter

Tasted blind at The Arches. Poured from magnum, the 1990 Latour is a tour de force. It displays immense purity and precision on the nose with graphite and tobacco scents, a hint of dried rose petal and mahogany bureau developing with time. The palate is surprisingly backwards considering that it is already over two decades old. It is underpinned with very well judged acidity that lends it poise and grace. But the headline is simple the unadulterated, astounding exhibition of Cabernet Sauvignon that drives the 1990 forward to its intense crushed stone finish where you can almost taste those Pauillac pebbles. Although I have encountered a couple of mis-firing bottles, this is the real deal. - Neal Martin, Wine Advocate

Tasting the 1990 Latour is like running into a long-lost friend. Still dark, deep and spectacularly flamboyant, the 1990 possesses remarkable textural richness from the very first taste. Time in the glass brings out a whole range of pencil shaving, dark fruit, chocolate, licorice and spice flavors, but more than anything else, the 1990 is a wine of pure and total voluptuousness. While I never think of wine as a competition, the 1990 is quite a bit more complex, layered and intriguing than the 1982 served alongside it at the same charity dinner. Its longevity will ultimately be determined by the quality of the cork and storage conditions, as the wine has several decades of truly exceptional drinking still to offer. In a word: magnificent!-Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

A classic, powerful, regal Latour, the 1990 is solidly in its drink window and has a still-ruby hue as well as a gorgeous perfume of darker currants, tobacco leaf, new saddle leather, and graphite. It opens up beautifully with air and has the perfect mix of great fruit and purity with mature and complex, cedary nuances. Full-bodied on the palate, perfectly balanced, and with sweet yet still present tannins, it can safely be enjoyed any time over the coming 40-50 years.-Jeb Dunnuck

Neither the 1989 or 1990 wines has budged in quality or development since I first tasted them in cask. There is no doubting the 1990 Latour is a potential candidate for the wine of the vintage. Remarkably youthful, with a deep purple color, and full-bodied, powerful, massive richness, everything is held together by high levels of tannin. Fortunately, the tannin is sweet and ripe, making evaluation easy. The finish, which lasts for 35-40 seconds, reveals layers of flavor as well as impressive purity. -Robert M. Parker, Jr., The Wine Advocate

This was served blind, coincidentally alongside Monte Bello 1991. As when I was lucky enough to taste it at our British Airways wine committee reunion last December, this is a particularly sweet, rich Latour and is already hugely enjoyable even if it seemed to monumental in its youth. Of the two professionals trying to identify the wine, I thought it was a 1990 (and had been told it was a left bank bordeaux) while the other taster wondered whether it was a right bank wine, so exuberant is it. Beautiful completeness and balance – not to mention a gloriously luscious finish. A dream wine.-Jancis Robinson