The 1989 vintage of Château Latour was not considered a great year for this superb property, which was purported to have started a mini-slump after the release of the brilliant 1982 vintage at the estate. However, though I did not buy this wine on release (believing the critics of the time and their assessment of its relative inferiority), on the couple of occasions where I have been lucky enough to drink it again in recent times, it has been clear that this wine was underrated at the outset and really is an excellent vintage of Latour. The most recent bottle was getting close to full bloom, but not quite there yet, offering up a deep and complex bouquet of cassis, sweet dark berries, cigar ash, Latour’s classic gravelly, dark soil signature, cedary oak and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and plenty deep at the core, with firm, well-integrated tannins, excellent mineral drive, very good acids for the vintage and a very long, balanced and complex finish. This is getting close to really drinking well as it closes in on its thirtieth birthday, but it is an old school Latour and will still be an even better drink at age forty than it is today.

This is so decadent and exciting on the nose with very ripe fruit tobacco meat and cedar. Full-bodied offering amazing raspberry fruit in the core of the palate. Ultrapolished velvety tannins wonderfully coat every inch of your palate. This will age for years ahead but it's so lovely now. Much better than many people think.-'89/'99 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2009). Drink now. 17000 cases made. -JS

Tangy fruit and medium bodied with more power, depth and complexity on the nose than on the palate. The fruit has a regal quality in its cassis character, but the finish has some dryness and is far too short for a First Growth, especially in a good vintage. Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/wine-tasting-note/?vintage=1989&wine=Chateau%20Latour%20Grand%20Vin