2000 Chateau Latour Pauillac (From Private Cellar)

1er Cru Classe. In all truth, the quality clearly inherent in 2000 Bordeaux makes it difficult to chose a "wine of the vintage", but the urge is always there and, when pushed for such a choice, we comfortably answer Latour. First in terms of fruity volume and concentration, it is shot through with currants, raspberries, sweet oak and fascinating notes of black earth spice, and, if a bit backward and gruff in tannin, it still manages to show a certain succulence at its core. Broad-beamed, big-boned and as deep as they come, it has the look of a classic Latour that will grow for decades to come.

Full medium ruby. Wonderfully sweet, rich aromas of cassis, minerals and bitter chocolate. A huge wine with almost painful intensity; solid as a rock and at the same time utterly sensual and creamy, with great inner-mouth complexity and depth of flavor and a complete absence of rough edges. "Almost too easy today," says Engerer. Sweet notes of roasted nuts and chocolate add to the wine's early appeal. A powerful, hugely rich Latour with a great building finish and perfectly suave tannins. This was really the last vintage of Latour with a meaningful percentage of cabernet franc, as the old franc vines were removed after 2000. But Engerer noted that Latour planted 1.5 hectares of petit verdot, which can be expected to represent up to 4% of the blend by 2004.