The 2016 Château Latour magnum is one of the most extraordinary fine wine acquisitions available anywhere in the world: a first-growth Pauillac from the greatest Bordeaux vintage of the modern era that received perfect 100-point scores from James Suckling, Vinous, Decanter and Wine Enthusiast, alongside 98 points from Wine Spectator and 96 points from Wine Advocate, representing one of the broadest and most emphatic critical consensuses around any wine in the entire history of the 100-point system. The combination of the 2016 vintage’s extraordinary structural depth and mineral perfection with the legendary terroir of the Latour Grand Enclos and the estate’s post-en primeur release philosophy, which ensures the wine is available only when the Latour team considers it ready to drink, creates a proposition of absolutely the highest possible importance in the world of Bordeaux fine wine.

The 2016 Bordeaux vintage produced the most uniformly and exceptionally scored red wines of any campaign in the modern era, with first-growth, super-second and many classified growth estates receiving near-perfect or perfect scores from multiple publications. In this context, a Château Latour from a vintage that received four perfect 100-point scores across approved publications is not simply a fine bottle of Pauillac but a document of what the world’s most celebrated red wine terroir and the world’s most demanding first-growth estate can achieve in its finest possible conditions. In the magnum format, with the slower development and greater complexity that the 1.5-litre vessel provides, the wine’s extraordinary trajectory over the next five decades will unfold with the ideal pace and completeness that no standard bottle can match.

A 2016 Château Latour magnum is one of the handful of wines available on the open market that collectors of the very highest seriousness and ambition will recognise immediately as irreplaceable: a wine that will not be produced again at this quality level in this combination of conditions until the next great vintage brings together the same constellation of factors. Its acquisition requires no further argument.

Deep, impenetrable ruby with an astonishing nose of pure blackcurrant, graphite, crushed stone, tar, dark mineral, cedar, dried violet and the profound, layered mineral depth of the Latour Grand Enclos at its most magnificent. Full-bodied with tannins of incredible density and perfect polish, electric natural acidity and a finish whose length and mineral precision is beyond conventional description. Best from 2035 through 2080.

An extraordinary wine that shows both power and precision. This Latour has layers of depth and a richness of tannins that is supported by extraordinary freshness. It’s the perfect year for this first growth. — James Suckling