A blend of 65.6% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, and 0.4% Petit Verdot, Les Forts de Latour 2018 has a deep garnet-purple color. It storms out of the glass with powerful scents of blackberry pie, boysenberry preserves, and crème de cassis, melding into a background of sandalwood, Indian spices, dusty soil, and licorice, with a hint of dried flowers. The medium to full-bodied palate is powerful and seductive, delivering firm, grainy tannins and seamless freshness to frame the generous flavors of black fruit preserves, finishing long and opulent.
95 points, Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Independent (Mar 2024)
The 2018 Les Forts de Latour is made up of 65.6% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot and 0.4% Petit Verdot, with 14.2% alcohol and an IPT (total polyphenol index) of 77. It was aged in 60% new oak. Deep garnet-purple in color, it needs a fair bit of swirling to reveal notions of baked black cherries, cassis and blackberry pie with hints of pencil lead, clove oil, cardamom and allspice with a waft of violets. Medium to full-bodied, the palate delivers impressive density with velvety tannins and a lively backbone supporting the generous black fruits, finishing long with all the earthy nuances coming through at the very end.
94+ points, Wine Advocate (Mar 2021)
The 2018 Les Forts de Latour is surprisingly approachable. It boasts serious concentration because of the warm dry summer and ensuing low yields, yet the intensity of the fruit pretty much covers the tannins, quite unusual for young Forts de Latour. Dark-toned fruit, gravel, incense, licorice and scorched earth add to the wine's distinctive sepia-toned personality. The 2018 turned out beautifully.
94 points, Antonio Galloni, Vinous (Feb 2024)
This is a gorgeous combination of cashmere and graphite, with racy edged cassis and blackberry fruit supported from underneath while light violet, anise and black tea details add range through the finish. A sleek and refined Pauillac that is hard to resist, but will easily handle cellaring. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Best from 2022 through 2035.
94 points, James Molesworth, Wine Spectator (Mar 2021)
In the line up, this is a year older than the Pauillac de Latour, but very clearly deeper and more intense in colour, reflecting the 24hl/h yield after a challenging growing season first with mildew and then with the heat of the summer. The rich texture is immediately apparent, and it needs time to open in the glass, as bottle ageing has tamed the exuberance of En Primeur and given way to a classically muscular expression of the estate character. Those Pauillac tannins are exerting their influence, cradling blackcurrant and damson fruits, cocoa bean, baking spice, graphite, espresso, turmeric and black pepper. A wine that reflects the intensity of the summer, with everything knitted down and austere, I suggest a few more years in bottle before opening to allow more joy to come through, and decant well before serving. 42% of the overall estate production in this wine, 60% new oak.
93 points, Jane Anson (Mar 2024)
Richly perfumed on the nose, so aromatic and scented in a heady way - ripe strawberries and blackcurrants. A bit more subdued than I was expecting with a crushed stone texture to the tannins, less plush - more serious, straight, determined and all in one line. Ripe and cool black and blue fruits, less jammy than I was expecting but still with clear depth aided by high acidity and touch of spice and tension around the sides. Nicely textured - a complex glass of wine, definitely not 'easy drinking' right now - give it a few years and a long decant, but this builds and builds, with a great sense of complexity, terroir and minerality to it.
93 points, Georgina Hindle, Decanter (Jan 2024)
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