Les Forts de Latour 2020 is the Pauillac second wine of Château Latour, and it’s built on a serious, classic Left Bank frame. The blend is 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26.5% Merlot, and 3.5% Petit Verdot, and multiple reviewers note that it also incorporates “a 64-hectoliter tank of Merlot that would normally have been included in the Grand Vin,” according to William Kelley at *Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate*. Alcohol is noted at 13.1%, and élevage is reported at about 60% new oak.

In the glass, the wine reads as Latour in miniature: dark fruit, graphite, and tobacco notes, with tannins that feel intentional rather than showy. James Suckling (*jamessuckling.com*) highlights “blue fruits and lead pencil,” alongside “firm and silky tannins and a crisp and citrusy finish.” Jeb Dunnuck (*jebdunnuck.com*) goes further, calling out “textbook Latour notes of currants… graphite, and lead pencil shavings,” and describing a “powerful, structured mouthfeel” with “perfectly ripe tannins”—an excellent 96-point review, and one of the strongest endorsements in the set.

Several critics emphasize perfume and floral lift. *Decanter* notes a “beautiful almost sweet violet fragrance,” and praises the wine as “polished… sleek, elegant and stylish,” while still “a touch tight on the finish,” pointing to further upside with time. Jane Anson (*janeanson.com*) likewise focuses on feel and density, saying she “love[s] the texture and depth,” and calls it “a brilliant vintage to track down.”

On the palate, the theme is controlled concentration. Antonio Galloni (*Vinous*) writes that “the purity of the flavors is just striking,” and that it “fleshes out beautifully with a bit of air.” Reviewers broadly converge on drinking windows that start in the later 2020s and extend for decades, with Dunnuck suggesting it is already approachable but built to age through mid-century.