Very enticing sweet tobacco, cedar, tar and blackcurrant on the nose with hints of black mushrooms and violets. It’s full-bodied with layers of ripe tannins that are still slightly chewy, but show poise and focus. Juicy finish with a berry, iodine and walnut aftertaste. Just a touch of austerity at the end. Savory. Clearly one of the top wines of this very difficult vintage, along with Margaux and Lafleur. Drinkable now, but better in 2024.

Very deep in colour, this is muted on the nose, though with black fruits lurking in the background. A compact wine with firm tannins, this also has a welcome juiciness to balance the solid structure. It shows Latour grip and typicity, though on a more modest scale than usual.

An intriguing nose of mint, cranberry, currants, cigar wrapper, cedar and tobacco. The wine is medium-bodied, elegant, soft and fresh. The wine finishes with a myriad of piquant red fruits, herbs, olives, a touch of salty rocks and currants. Elegantly styled, this should be ready to go on release. After tasting the wine, we shared it during dinner and while this is clearly not a concentrated wine, it remained in the glass for hours over dinner with any degradation. Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/search-wine-tasting-notes/?szSearch=2013+Latour+

One of the successes of the vintage, with well-hewn tannins and grip. There are plenty of markers of a cool vintage here, in the raspberry, redcurrant, cassis bud and cherry pit flavours, set alongside waves of smoked tea and tomato leaf. One to look out. First year for Hélène Génin as technical director. Only 31% of the production made it into the first wine, meaning 6,000 cases, with almost all of it coming from the 24ha in L'Enclos that were being farmed biodynamically at the time.

Composed of 95.2% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4.4% Merlot and 0.4% Petit Verdot, the 2013 Latour offers an open-knit, fragrant nose of licorice, sandalwood, rose petals and cigar box over a core of Black Forest cake, stewed plums, mulberries and redcurrant jelly, plus a waft of cast-iron pan. The elegantly styled, medium-bodied palate (13% alcohol) fills the mouth with intense red and black berry preserves layers, framed by evolved, soft-textured tannins and well-knit freshness, finishing long and spicy. This vintage does not have the power and backbone of an outstanding vintage of Latour, but it is aging gracefully and, still possessing a lot of discernible fruit with plenty of tertiary pizazz, is absolutely delicious to drink right now. This sweet-spot stage is likely to continue for another 5-7 years, before the wine plateaus at a maturity peak and holds for a further 15+ years.- LPB

Medium garnet in color, the 2013 Latour starts off with a fragrant nose of dried roses, powdered cinnamon, clove oil, and star anise, giving way to a core of warm cassis, plum preserves, and black cherry compote with a touch of cast-iron pan. The medium-bodied palate is beautifully poised and elegant, with soft acidity and plush tannins, finishing long and perfumed.

This delivers a very tightly focused beam of red currant, pomegranate and bitter plum fruit flavors that streak along thanks to finely beaded acidity, showing a hint of graphite through the finish and a beguiling black tea accent. Reveals a lovely sense of precision, maintaining cut through the sneakily long finish. Best from 2017 through 2025. 5,625 cases made. — JM

The flagship 2013 Chateau Latour comes from a much more challenging vintage and is 95.2% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4.4% Merlot, and a 0.4% Petit Verdot. It shows its more Cabernet dominated blend with a more compact, tight, reserved style that opens up nicely with time in the glass. Revealing a healthy ruby/plum color, it has classic Latour notes of blackcurrants, freshly sharpened pencils, smoked tobacco, crushed stone, and licorice. It doesn't have the depth, richness, or expansiveness to be considered a great Latour but is medium-bodied, has a focused, elegant texture, ripe, silky tannins, and a narrow yet lengthy finish. Given the difficulties in the year, this is certainly a success as the purity of fruit is spot on, the tannins are sweet and polished, and it has plenty of classic Latour character. It should drink nicely over the coming 10-15 years and have a gradual decline.

The 2013 Latour has quite an austere nose, backward and slightly surly. Light and tertiary black fruit mix with cigar humidor and autumn leaf scents. The palate is better with a gentle grip, fine acidity and decent balance. You do wish for more fruit on the finish, though there is a greater density on the finish compared with the Lafite-Rothschild. Fine. -- Neal Martin