1 bottle per lot
Details
HISTORIC VINTAGES FROM THE CELLARS OF CHATEAU LATOUR
Lots 1 - 77
Château Latour - A History
Château Latour entered into the history books in 1378, at the height of the Hundred-Year War, when the Anglo-Gascon army established a garrison there. The emblem of the château - its squat, battlement tower, standing in the vines - serves to remind us of those times, when Acquitaine needed protection from marauders and pirates.
Acquired in 1670 by the de Ségur family, and notably Marquis Nicolas-Alexandre de Ségur, known as 'Le Prince des Vignes', Château Latour remained in the hands of his ancestors until 1963.
In the 18th century Château Latour, like many of its highly-regarded peers, started to be recognised around the world thanks to the conquest of the British market, and the flourishing trading routes to Northern Europe out of the Bordeaux river port.
The reputation of Latour for making wines of great colour, complexity, purity of fruit and longevity was well known by the time of the Médoc and Graves Classification in 1855 and Latour was named as one of only four Premiers Crus Classés.
Between 1963 and 1993, the château came under British stewardship, at which time investments were made in the vineyard, vat-house and cellar. Latour returned to French hands in 1993, when it was purchased by François Pinault.
In 1999 work begun on a further modernisation of the cellars and vat room as Château Latour remains one of the greatest wine estates in the world. New vinification systems and cellar as well as a tasting room make Latour a truly modern operation with the most ancient of roots.
Château Latour - The Vineyard
The 47 hectares which surround the Château, the heart of the estate, are called l'Enclos. Only the grapes from these 47 ha make the Grand Vin de Château Latour. This vineyard has a typical Médoc topography, with a gentle rise in the ground, bounded on the north and south by two small streams, and on the east by the Palus, the low lying meadows by the river. This Enclos benefits from a very unique terroir that combines an optimized sub-soil nutrition for the vines, the Gironde river which tempers extreme weather conditions, and a typical Médoc climate, largely influenced by the Atlantic ocean, which allows the grapes to reach maturation under favourable conditions.
In Spring 1963, it was decided to extend the vineyard by 12.5 ha, by planting two plots situated outside the Enclos which were owned by the Domain since 1850. This extension was not meant to produce a wine that could enter the Grand Vin, but to add a second wine named Les Forts de Latour. This project was undertaken immediately and took about two years to be completed.
The renewal of the entire vineyard at an individual vine level: this means removing only the old and non-producing vines, and replacing them with young vines (instead of removing an entire parcel). This decision implies a more complex organization in order to run the vineyard (during harvest for example, the young vines are picked separately) -but it allows one to keep a larger number of old vines.
Today the Estate consists of 65 hectares of vines.
Frédérique Engerer, Président of Château Latour:
"Château Latour has always wanted to keep a certain quantity of each vintage in our cellars and we often feel like librarians with a collection of books that can be read only once. Realising that we seldom open vintages from the 1950s and earlier, we have been considering a major opening of our cellar 'library' to Latour lovers around the world for some considerable time. Due to the offering's depth and breadth, the sale will pay tribute to the generations of winemakers and vineyard managers who have ensured that Latour remains at the forefront of fine wine production."
NYWinesChristie's are honored to present the second and third installments of this international opening of the library cellar. A total of 58 vintages are represented in our two salesrooms in Los Angeles and New York. The condition and provenance of these wines are without parallel.
The following lots have been especially selected and shipped for this sale from the cellars of Château Latour, where they have lain since original production. Each bottle taken from the oenothèque has a level of bottom neck or better, has an original label or an authentic period replacement and has been packed in custom-made wooden cases.
Each bottle has been periodically reconditioned and recorked.
As an additional seal of provenance each bottle will bear a uniquely numbered back label and laser marking.
Tasting notes from Anthony Hanson were made at two recent tastings in London and Houston, both featuring wines that had been recently removed from the cellars of Château Latour.
Château Latour--Vintage 1865
Pauillac, 1er cru classé
Parcel: lots 1 - 2
...Three months later, as with the 1864s, a bottle recorked in 1980, casually brought out from Jaeger's cellar to compare with the Lafite: still fairly deep, with a good mature rim; eucalyptus noted once again on the nose; good flavour, balance, condition, length. Faultless, even allowing for the vintage's tannic astringency. At best *****. MB, Vintage Wine
1 bottle per lot
Lots 1 - 77
Château Latour - A History
Château Latour entered into the history books in 1378, at the height of the Hundred-Year War, when the Anglo-Gascon army established a garrison there. The emblem of the château - its squat, battlement tower, standing in the vines - serves to remind us of those times, when Acquitaine needed protection from marauders and pirates.
Acquired in 1670 by the de Ségur family, and notably Marquis Nicolas-Alexandre de Ségur, known as 'Le Prince des Vignes', Château Latour remained in the hands of his ancestors until 1963.
In the 18th century Château Latour, like many of its highly-regarded peers, started to be recognised around the world thanks to the conquest of the British market, and the flourishing trading routes to Northern Europe out of the Bordeaux river port.
The reputation of Latour for making wines of great colour, complexity, purity of fruit and longevity was well known by the time of the Médoc and Graves Classification in 1855 and Latour was named as one of only four Premiers Crus Classés.
Between 1963 and 1993, the château came under British stewardship, at which time investments were made in the vineyard, vat-house and cellar. Latour returned to French hands in 1993, when it was purchased by François Pinault.
In 1999 work begun on a further modernisation of the cellars and vat room as Château Latour remains one of the greatest wine estates in the world. New vinification systems and cellar as well as a tasting room make Latour a truly modern operation with the most ancient of roots.
Château Latour - The Vineyard
The 47 hectares which surround the Château, the heart of the estate, are called l'Enclos. Only the grapes from these 47 ha make the Grand Vin de Château Latour. This vineyard has a typical Médoc topography, with a gentle rise in the ground, bounded on the north and south by two small streams, and on the east by the Palus, the low lying meadows by the river. This Enclos benefits from a very unique terroir that combines an optimized sub-soil nutrition for the vines, the Gironde river which tempers extreme weather conditions, and a typical Médoc climate, largely influenced by the Atlantic ocean, which allows the grapes to reach maturation under favourable conditions.
In Spring 1963, it was decided to extend the vineyard by 12.5 ha, by planting two plots situated outside the Enclos which were owned by the Domain since 1850. This extension was not meant to produce a wine that could enter the Grand Vin, but to add a second wine named Les Forts de Latour. This project was undertaken immediately and took about two years to be completed.
The renewal of the entire vineyard at an individual vine level: this means removing only the old and non-producing vines, and replacing them with young vines (instead of removing an entire parcel). This decision implies a more complex organization in order to run the vineyard (during harvest for example, the young vines are picked separately) -but it allows one to keep a larger number of old vines.
Today the Estate consists of 65 hectares of vines.
Frédérique Engerer, Président of Château Latour:
"Château Latour has always wanted to keep a certain quantity of each vintage in our cellars and we often feel like librarians with a collection of books that can be read only once. Realising that we seldom open vintages from the 1950s and earlier, we have been considering a major opening of our cellar 'library' to Latour lovers around the world for some considerable time. Due to the offering's depth and breadth, the sale will pay tribute to the generations of winemakers and vineyard managers who have ensured that Latour remains at the forefront of fine wine production."
NYWinesChristie's are honored to present the second and third installments of this international opening of the library cellar. A total of 58 vintages are represented in our two salesrooms in Los Angeles and New York. The condition and provenance of these wines are without parallel.
The following lots have been especially selected and shipped for this sale from the cellars of Château Latour, where they have lain since original production. Each bottle taken from the oenothèque has a level of bottom neck or better, has an original label or an authentic period replacement and has been packed in custom-made wooden cases.
Each bottle has been periodically reconditioned and recorked.
As an additional seal of provenance each bottle will bear a uniquely numbered back label and laser marking.
Tasting notes from Anthony Hanson were made at two recent tastings in London and Houston, both featuring wines that had been recently removed from the cellars of Château Latour.
Château Latour--Vintage 1865
Pauillac, 1er cru classé
Parcel: lots 1 - 2
...Three months later, as with the 1864s, a bottle recorked in 1980, casually brought out from Jaeger's cellar to compare with the Lafite: still fairly deep, with a good mature rim; eucalyptus noted once again on the nose; good flavour, balance, condition, length. Faultless, even allowing for the vintage's tannic astringency. At best *****. MB, Vintage Wine
1 bottle per lot