wine

Welcome to un-official blog of Les Forts de Latour

Chateau Latour is a famous French estate growing vineyards. The wine prepared under this label is rated as First growth and comes under the classification of 1855 Bordeaux. This popular estate engages in producing three kinds of red wine. In addition to its first growth Grand Vin, the estate has as well produced Les Forts de Latour from the year 1996, which is its second growth. And its third growth is being released every year right from 1990. It is noteworthy that Imperial, a product of Chateau Latour was marketed in a 6-litre bottle for £135,000 during 2011. Generally Vine has its origin somewhere in the 14th century. And the Chateau wines are believed to have early recognition from the 16th century onwards. The estate spreads to about 78 hectares of which 47 hectares were dedicated to cultivation of Grand Vin grape vines. The grape varieties from this vine estate had the composition – Carbernet Sauvingnon of 80%, Merlot of 18% and Carbernet Franc plus Petit Verdot of 2%. The annual production of Chateau Latour’s Grand Vin is observed to be 18,000 cases. And it contains Carbernet Sauvingnon 75%, Merlot 20% and the remaining is shared between Carbernet Franc and Petit Verdot. It second growth Les Forts de Latour has the typical composition of Carbernet Sauvingnon of 70% and Merlot 30% with yearly manufacture of 11,000 cases.

Bordeaux latour wine is manufactured from Bordeaux region of France. Around 700 million bottles of Bordeaux wine are being produced and it is considered one of the expensive wines sold in France and worldwide. Around 89% of wine produced in Bordeaux is red wine and it is popularly known as Claret in Great Britain.

The prime reason for excellent production of wine in Bordeaux is due to its climatic conditions that favor growth of vineyards. Its soil is geologically observed as limestone, which is rich in calcium. The rivers Garonne and the Dordogne Rivers, which flow across the region, irrigate the land and offer an oceanic climate.

Generally Bordeaux wines are subjected to age in stainless steel barrels in today’s production. The natural fermentation that takes place in the barrels makes the wine to be of superior quality. Normally the grapes are allowed to ferment for about 6 months in the barrels. However, few chateaux wines were allowed to ferment between 18 to 20 months.

Bordeaux wines are classified into four categories according to the different parts of cultivation within the Bordeaux region. The red wines of first growth are considered the most expensive and they include Château Lafite-Rothschild (appellation Pauillac), Château Margaux (appellation Margaux), Château Latour (appellation Pauillac), Château Haut-Brion (appellation Péssac-Leognan) and Château Mouton Rothschild (appellation Pauillac. White sweet wines are classified into three categories. One can identify the genuine Bordeaux wine with its label content. The label generally include the estate name, the classification of estate, appellation denoting the wine type in the bottle, the place where the wine is bottled, the vintage year and the amount of alcohol present. Bordeaux wines are commonly sold in wine auctions due to its vintage collection. Most of the Bordeaux wines are retailed as future contracts referred to as en primeur.

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Comments 

#11

finkbeiner hollowell Says:

2012-02-26 01:14

Pauillac wines, it seems, have gigantic price tags no matter which Chateau.

#10

bumpers colvard Says:

2012-02-26 01:11

I can’t believe nobody has mentioned Kim Jong-il and his buying up all of Les Forts as quickly as the en primeurs came available. Can you imagine being a winemaker and having an entire vintage bought by a single entity? I wonder how much of that wine was actually served at those North Korean state functions before he died.

#9

pankey baehr Says:

2012-02-26 01:09

That is correct. A portion of Les Forts fruit comes from vines that have been at Latour for over a hundred years, and some of it comes from more recently-acquired vines

#8

atlas Says:

2012-02-26 01:06

Les Forts grapes come from nearby but separate vine plots, some of them are old vines and otherwise the relatively younger vines from the estate are used. Also, in vinification, Les Forts uses more new oak and also more merlot in blending.

#7

uric harana Says:

2012-02-26 01:04

Les Forts is different from the [exorbitantly -priced] Latour in what ways, exactly?

#6

ferland wellborn Says:

2012-02-26 01:01

Oh, definitely: if one wanted to actually drink La Petit Mouton, Pavillon de Margaux, Carraudes de Lafite, or Les Forts de Latour, one probably couldn’t afford it right now. That is, wanted them to open, not act as commodity. I also shared Les Forts 1996 not terribly long age; it was really dense, spicy, and had a ton of blackberry and black currants throughout. Of course, a lot of decanting time.

#5

schoenfeld weddington Says:

2012-02-26 00:57

My good friend won’t drink expensive Bordeaux for these reasons. Les Forts de Latour has become incredibly expensive, but I have certainly enjoyed some on a couple of occasions. I remember the 1995 and ’96 as being really very beautiful, especially after being cellared for years. These I’ve had at fine restaurants with groups usually containing a few wine nuts.

#4

jimenes fogle Says:

2012-02-26 00:55

Well, yeah, nearly all vintages of the second wines of First Growths grew in price when the King Daddys started selling and trading like crazy. The Chinese were buying tons of Les Forts de Latour to give as gifts because it was ‘fashionable’ like the big Latour Grand Vin. Brand Association.

#3

surrettma gruder Says:

2012-02-26 00:52

Many would have said that buying a wine like Les Forts de Latour would be only for investors, not serious drinkers, after that astronomical price rise in 2010. All the commotion over the 2009 en primeur tastings and prices. Of course, especially Latour and Lafite are exporting outrageous amounts to Eastern Asia. And naturally when any of the First Growths get attention, the second wines of these accordingly escalate in value and/or trading prices.

#2

Administrator Says:

2011-11-26 11:05

this is for testing by azhar