Big tannins and impressive fruits are the hallmarks of this impressive wine. It is also subtle, not showing all its flavors at once, hiding beneath tannins and structure. For this fruity vintage, it shows a strong sense of direct, solid structure, only allowing the strong black plum and berry flavors to come through slowly. It is for the long haul, so don't drink before 2022, even better later.

This has a gorgeous core of steeped plum, boysenberry and black currant coulis flavors, backed by a prominent graphite note that drives through the lengthy finish, where extra hints of anise and sweet tobacco flitter in the background. Regal. Best from 2018 through 2035. 5,835 cases made. — JM

The nose is complex, featuring smoke, meat and hints of wood, with currants, olives and berries underneath. Full body with super-velvety tannins. The strong acidity gives the wine an edginess. Love the spicy, subtly fruity finish. Steely. Try in 2020.

The 2011 Château Latour is an absolute classic in the making. The wine is a blend of just under eighty-five percent cabernet sauvignon, fifteen percent merlot and a soupçon of petit verdot this year and tips the scales at a very cool and “old school” 13.1 percent alcohol. The bouquet is deep, brooding and classically reserved mélange of cassis, dark berries, coffee bean, gravelly soil tones, cigar smoke, a nice touch of youthful tobacco leaf and a very discreet base of nutty new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and very pure, with a rock solid core of fruit, very firm structure, plenty of chewy, but seamlessly-integrated tannins and a very long, powerful, soil-driven finish. A great effort in 2011, this is the finest wine to be found on the Left Bank in this vintage. It will be a timeless and utterly traditional vintage of Latour.

(93-95 points) A blend of 84.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and 0.5% Petit Verdot, the 2011 Latour represents only 34% of the crop. It hit 13.1% natural alcohol. One of the vintage's most compelling wines, it possesses a dense ruby/purple color as well as a sweet, open-knit personality with ripe tannin, superb intensity, good purity and harmony, a medium to full-bodied mouthfeel, and lots of crushed rock, floral and black as well as blue fruit notes in addition to hints of ink and forest floor. This beautifully rich, savory Latour will be surprisingly drinkable in 4-5 years, and should age easily for two decades or more. - RP