The 2017 Latour a Pomerol is a wine from one of the Right Bank's most respected small estates in a vintage that delivered good-to-very-good quality across Pomerol, notwithstanding the dramatic spring frost damage that dramatically reduced yields across the appellation. At Latour a Pomerol, the estate's 100% Merlot from deep gravel and clay soils produced a wine of good natural concentration from the frost-reduced crop, benefiting from the same low-yield effect that aided quality across the best Pomerol addresses in 2017.

The 2017 Bordeaux vintage is characterised by wines of fresh, accessible character more suited to medium-term drinking than the monumental depth of 2016 or 2019 on the Right Bank. For Latour a Pomerol, the 2017 reflects this vintage personality: more approachable than the estate's finest releases, but with the genuine Pomerol terroir character and Moueix farming standards that have always defined the property. The frost's yield reduction paradoxically concentrated the surviving fruit into a wine of more character than the vintage's sometimes dismissive reputation might suggest.

Latour a Pomerol in years like 2017 serves as an instructive benchmark: the combination of excellent clay-gravel terroir and the Moueix family's experienced viticulture ensures that even in moderately difficult vintages the property delivers honest, characterful Pomerol at a reasonable price. Buyers assembling a vertical of Latour a Pomerol, from 2009 through to 2022, will find the 2017 occupying its expected position in the range: reliable, characterful and appropriately priced for the vintage.

Drink from 2023 to 2030. This wine is in its early accessible drinking window. Decant one hour and pair with roast duck, beef or mushroom-based preparations.

Mature garnet-ruby. The nose shows Pomerol's classic profile: plum, dark cherry, clay mineral, cedar and a hint of dried herb. The palate is medium-bodied with good fruit character, rounded tannins from the clay-dominant terroir and a clean, reasonably persistent finish. An honest and reliable Latour a Pomerol that reflects the 2017 vintage's accessible, medium-term character.