1996 Chateau Latour, Pauillac, Bottle (750mL)

Wine Advocate | 99 Points

"The 1996 Latour is medium to deep garnet in color with a profound earthy, meaty, gamey nose with hints of blueberry preserves, crème de cassis and pencil shavings. The palate is full-bodied, concentrated and packed with muscular fruit, with a firm, ripe, grainy backbone and epically long finish. Showing much more youthfully than the 2000 tasted on the same day and still possessing bags of youthful fruit in the mid-palate, this beauty is going to go on and on!"

Decanter| 98 Points

"Inky black even at 25 years old. A hugely impressive wine, with plenty of chewy tannins still in play, ripples of cassis, bilberry and blackberry fruits, set against olive paste, charcoal and eucalyptus. Things have softened around the edges no question, this is still full of life with decades ahead of it, but this is a great moment to start enjoying its promise. Textbook Latour in many ways, for its austerity and power, and its serious character that is underlaid by concentrated pleasure showcasing 'the gift of sub-gravel clays'."

At 30 years of age, 1996 Château Latour is entering a beautiful phase of maturity - just beginning to show why great Bordeaux is worth the wait.

Sourced from an original wood case, these bottles check every box for serious collectors: pristine condition, excellent fill levels, clean labels, and capsules that turn with ease. This is the kind of provenance that actually matters and the kind you rarely see still intact nearly three decades later.

Regarded as the standout Left Bank vintage of the decade after 1990, 1996 delivers textbook Pauillac character: cassis, graphite, cigar box, and that signature Latour backbone. There’s real presence here: layered, precise, and deeply concentrated yet it’s starting to soften just enough to show its complexity without losing its edge.

This is a bottle that works both ways: impressive if opened now with a decant, but with more than enough structure to reward additional cellaring. For collectors looking to secure a perfectly stored example of mature First Growth Bordeaux or to actually drink something legendary without waiting another 20 years...this is it!