Château Latour, 2024 Releases
Spring is nearly here. The first daffodils have already bloomed in the hedgerows, splashes of yellow-gold shimmering and dancing against the still-bare wood of hawthorn, field maple and hazel. Ewes graze peacefully in the field, the lambing season still a few weeks away. Before long the bumblebees and the bluebells will emerge, and the call of the cuckoo will be heard. Longer days and lighter evenings lie ahead.
And, of course, it wouldn’t be spring without the latest round of wines to make their appearance in the Château Latour late-release programme.
As subscribers are probably sick of hearing, I have added a significant number of châteaux to my timetable of appointments in the past year, both during the primeurs and also as part of my in-bottle tastings. One of these is Château Latour, which I have always visited during the primeurs but given the late release of the wines there seemed little point in visiting after the bottling.
Well, that was then. This year I reversed that decision, so notes on the recently bottled 2021 vintage can be found in my recently published Pauillac 2021 report (and, given the nature of the vintage, I suspect some of these wines will enter the late-release programme sooner rather than later). And in addition I can present my notes on the 2024 releases in a more timely fashion, long before the daffodils fade and thoughts turn instead to summer.
