Chateau Latour-Martillac 2016

The 2016 vintage has a lovely deep purple color. A complex and elegant nose with ripe black fruit aromas (cassis liquor and black cherry), with delicate, spicy and floral notes. The palate is full, fleshy and dense. The tannins are both powerful and rounded, with sweet hints of cherry liqueur and licorice. Good length on the finish with an incredible freshness.

Wine Spectator: 90
Solid, with a juicy yet restrained core of dark currant and blackberry compote flavors that should unwind nicely with modest cellaring thanks to nicely embedded brambly grip and dried tobacco leaf, anise and tar notes that run through the gutsy finish. Best from 2021 through 2026. 11,800 cases made.

Wine Advocate: 93
The 2016 Latour Martillac is medium to deep garnet-purple in color with warm plums, kirsch and redcurrant jelly on the nose with touches of bay leaves, iron ore and black soil. Medium-bodied with a well-sustained mid-palate of muscular fruit, it has a firm backbone of fine-grained tannins and wonderful freshness, finishing very long.

Decanter: 92
This has a fairly high aromatic profile, with a lovely density of brambled blackberry and cassis that's deepened with time in the bottle. There’s a touch of austerity through the mid-palate and the acidity is relatively high, but there's fruit and tannin to back it up. It will age extremely well. Impressive.

Wine Enthusiast: 93
A structured wine backed by plenty of black-currant fruits, this is initially austere. Its richness needs time to develop and turn into the classically structured wine that this estate does so well. Drink from 2025.

Vinous: 93
The 2016 Latour-Martillac offers classic Pessac-Léognan scents on the nose: black fruit, black olive and a touch of sage, plus hints of blue fruit that emerge with time. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit and fine acidity. A little compact toward the finish, but with good persistence. My feeling is that this will close down quite soon after bottling, but there is a great wine here.

Vinous: 93

The 2016 Latour-Martillac offers classic Pessac-Léognan scents on the nose: black fruit, black olive and a touch of sage, plus hints of blue fruit that emerge with time. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit and fine acidity. A little compact toward the finish, but with good persistence. My feeling is that this will close down quite soon after bottling, but there is a great wine here.

James Suckling: 94
This is very perfumed with blackberry and blueberry aromas, but shows a hot-stone and blanched-almond undertone. Medium-to full-bodied with tight and silky tannins that are extremely polished and beautiful. Love the length and balance to this. Try after 2022.

Jeb Dunnuck: 91
The 2016 Château Latour-Martillac is also terrific and has a structured, medium-bodied, firm style that’s going to benefit from cellaring. Blackberries, graphite, new leather, and a kiss of tobacco all emerge from this nicely textured, pure, layered Pessac. Give bottles 4-5 years and enjoy over the following two decades.