Pauillac de Latour 2015

Château Latour is one of the great estates of Bordeaux, placed at the top of the tree in 1855, as Premier Grand Cru Classé. It remains one of the great red wines in the world, with proven quality and an exceptional capacity to age. Inevitably, it has the three- or four-figure price tag to match.

Like most other major Bordeaux châteaux, the team at Latour also make other wines beneath the Grand Vin. For many decades, Les Forts de Latour has been considered to be the estate's 'second wine', though in reality it's as much a wine from a specific plot on the estate than a wine made up of declassified lots that didn't make the grade with the Grand Vin. Les Forts has also built a formidable reputation in its own right and, though less expensive than the Grand Vin, is still well into three figures per bottle.

Enter Pauillac de Latour, a third option from the estate, made by the same team as the Grand Vin and with the same care, but primarily from the estate's young vines that are not yet ready to contribute to the Grand Vin, as well as wines declassified from Les Forts. That gives drinkers a taste of Latour but at a more accessible price and designed to be drinkable after 4-5 years - much earlier than the Grand Vin that typically takes a decade or two to reach maturity.

This wine is from the exceptional 2015 vintage, giving it an additional richness and depth, with lots of the character of its Pauillac communal origins.