1954 Chateau LaTour Pauillac Premier Grand Cru Classe Bordeaux

LOT of 5 Bottles
1954 Chateau LaTour Pauillac Premier Grand Cru Classe Bordeaux

Chateau Latour History, Overview

Chateau Latour is one of the oldest continuous Bordeaux wine producing properties in the Pauillac appellation with a history dating all the way back to 14th century! The estate takes its name from the original Saint-Lambert tower placed close to the chateau that was created in the second half of the 14th century. Historical documents show, on October 18, 1331, Pons, the Seigneur of Castillon, allowed one of the most prosperous families in the Medoc to create a fortress in area of Saint-Lambert. They were responsible for erecting the original tower that the estate is named for today. At the end of the 17th century, after a succession of sales, inheritances and marriages, Chateau Latour became the property of the Segur family. In 1718, thanks to Marquis Nicolas-Alexandre de Segur, the modern history of Chateau Latour starts taking place.

Following the marriage of Alexandre de Segur and Marie-Therese de Clausel, the property became part of the de Segur family remaining in their hands for almost 300 years. Just before his death in 1716, Alexandre de Segur bought Chateau Lafite. Two years later, his son, Nicolas-Alexandre, (called “the Prince of Vines”) increased the family holdings when he purchased what would later become Chateau Mouton Rothschild and Chateau Calon Segur. In fact, for a 2 year period, (1718-1720) the de Segur family owned 3 of what would become the 5 First Growths, Chateau Latour, Chateau Lafite and what we know of today as Chateau Mouton Rothschild! Like most great estates in Bordeaux, the owners did not live at the property. So the management of Chateau Latour fell to a director who produced detailed reports on the estates activities. This organization involved complete administration maintenance, viticulture expenses and correspondence with the owner. This information allows us to understand what really took place at Latour during the last 300 years.

By the start of the 18th century, the wine of Chateau Latour was recognized around the world. The aristocracy and other wealthy consumers loved wines from the top chateaux, of which Chateau Latour was considered one of the best in the Medoc. That is how Thomas Jefferson, Ambassador of the United States to France and future President of the United States discovered the vineyard in 1787. Even then, Chateau Latour was an expensive wine. To give you an idea of the price of Latour in its day, Chateau Latour was selling more for more than twenty times as much as one of ordinary Bordeaux wines.The existing chateau was built between 1862 and 1864. Jumping to the next century, in 1963, the heirs of the Marquis de Segur sold most of their remaining shares in Chateau Latour. The new shareholders became “Harveys of Bristol” and “Hallminster Limited”, both British Limited Companies. “Hallminster Limited” belonged to the Pearson Group, and held more than 50% of the shares of Chateau Latour. However the new owners kept the 120 year-old name of “Societe Civile du Vignoble de Chateau Latour”. At the time of the purchase, it was clear to everyone that the Left Bank property needed major renovations in the cellars and the vineyard required extensive replanting.

In 1963 Chateau Latour expanded their vineyards by 12.5 hectares. They planted two additional plots just outside the “Enclos,” vineyard, which were owned by the property since 1850. This is the source of Les Forts de Latour. In 1968 improvements were made to the vineyard’s drainage system. The wine making facilities were also renovated. Extensive restoration and an extension of the winery at Chateau Latour started taking place in 1964. At the time, a decision was made to replace the old wooden vats with new stainless steel ones. Stainless steel was perfect for alcoholic fermentation as it allows temperatures to be automatically controlled by chilled water flowing down the sides of the vats. At that time, it was a revolutionary change in Bordeaux. This marked the start of the modern era for Chateau Latour.

In 1989, Allied Lyons, already owner of 25% of the shares of Chateau Latour bought Pearson’s shares as well as those remaining in the hands of some individual owners to become the majority owner. In July 1993 they sold all their shares of Chateau Latour to François Pinault for 131 Million dollars. The price turned out to be one of the great deals for a chateau in the history of Bordeaux as the stock in the cellars alone was rumored to be worth close to 60 Million Dollars at the time! The next important decision made by Francois Pinault turned out to be equally savvy when he decided to hire Frederic Engerer. Frederic Engerer was already familiar with the Pinault family, as both Engerer and the son of Francois Pinault, François-Henri Pinault attended the same university. Since Frederic Engerer took over management of the property in 1995, things have never been better. In 2012, Chateau Latour announced they would no longer be selling Chateau Latour as a future. 2011 was the final vintage they sold En Primeur. Chateau Latour began releasing their wines when they were considered ready to drink. The 2012 was released in 2020.

Chateau Latour Character and Style

Chateau Latour is like no other Bordeaux wine. It is in a unique class of its own. Chateau Latour has been the most consistent of the First Growth chateaux from the Medoc for over 100 years! Since 1996, Chateau Latour has been producing some of the best wines in their history! Chateau Latour combines power, concentration, purity, just a hint of austerity and a regal bearing. In its youth, it is not a lot of fun to drink. It can be a bit hard to open. But with aging, you quickly discover its full bodied, power coupled with that beautiful purity of fruit, velvet, refined tannins and layers of cassis, earth, truffle, spice and tobacco flavors.

Chateau, Latour in the top vintages require decades to fully develop. But the wines can age for decades as well. It is not unusual to taste 50-60-70 year old bottles from top vintages that are sublime. Once you taste a mature bottle of Latour, you’ll understand why it was worth the wait! Chateau Latour Vineyards, Terroir, Grapes, Winemaking The 92 hectare Chateau Latour vineyard has 78 hectares cultivated with vines that are planted to 74.2% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23.8 Merlot, 1.8% Cabernet Franc and .02% Petit Verdot. This is a slight change in the vineyard makeup as the amount of Cabernet Sauvignon has been decreased, Petit Verdot is almost invisible and more Merlot has been planted in the vineyards. The Cabernet Franc has also been reduced over the years. However, it is imperative to understand that the heart and soul of the Chateau Latour vineyard, located close to the Chateau is a 47 hectare parcel known as “Enclos”. There are many people in Bordeaux that consider those 47 hectares to be the best terroir in all of Bordeaux.

The 47 hectares of vines in the Enclos vineyard remains almost unchanged since 1794. Only grapes sourced from Enclos are used to produce the Grand Vin of Chateau Latour. When you delve deeper into the soils of the Enclos, you find diversity. To the north and south, the soils have more clay and marl. In the center of Enclos, which is close to the chateau, you unearth more deep gravel and clay. This is the section that provides the power, grace and depth of Chateau Latour. The powerful tannins often come from vines planted closer to edge of the Enclos. It is the blending of all these parcels that provide the brilliance of the wine here. Overall, the vineyard of Chateau Latour offers elevations and gentle slopes, easy access to water, due to its close proximity to the Gironde and a terroir of gravel, marl and clay soils with deep deposits of limestone in the soil.

Underneath the top soil, you find more gravel, with some clay and sand. The gravel at Latour can run from between 4 to 5 meters deep. The elevations are close to 14 meters at its peak. One can actually breakdown the soils of Chateau Latour into three distinctive types, large gravel stones, smaller gravel rocks or pebbles and clay. Of course it’s the gravel soils that are perfect for Cabernet Sauvignon. But Chateau Latour has a type of clay in their terroir that is incredibly dense called “Argile Gonflante”. You can also divide the Latour vineyard into 3 main parcels, with the largest section placed closest to the chateau, abutting Leoville Las Cases to the south. The Comtesse de Lalande parcel is placed between Pauillac and St. Julien and they own another parcel, Petit Batailley, which is just slightly further inland as is Pinada.

They also own vines in a block known as Ste-Anne, which is due west, as well as 8 hectares of vines in a parcel known as Artigues, that is used for their third wine. However, it is important to note that the majority of the Latour vineyards are located to the right of the D2 Highway, providing it better access to the river, which gives it a unique micro-climate. Another important distinction is that the vineyards of Chateau Latour have more slopes with various elevations than any of the other First Growths. The terroir is deep gravel based soils with rich clay found in the sub soils. Most of the Merlot planted at Chateau Latour resides in the lower parcels of the Enclos section where the gravel layers are not as prominent, nor as deep. It is the depth of the gravels along with the rich clay that create the uniqueness of Chateau Latour.

In that section of the vineyard, the marls and clay layers are more apparent in the soil. The small amounts of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot in the vines are more likely field blends as they are found inside the vines of the Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. On average, the vines are about 40 years of age. But Chateau Latour is fortunate to have old vines as well. Some of the oldest vines at Chateau Latour are over 100 years of age. Those vines, which are all Cabernet Sauvignon, are in a small parcel known as Le Sarmentier. The vineyard is planted to a vine density of 10,000 vines per hectare. Chateau Latour is fortunate to have old vines as well, some of which are close to 100 years of age. The vineyard is planted to a vine density of 10,000 vines per hectare.

Chateau Latour Biodynamic and Organic Farming.

Starting in 2008, Chateau Latour began using horses to churn the soils in select parcels of vines. Currently 7 horses are used to work the Enclos vineyard. Sustainable farming is stressed at Chateau Latour. In 2013, 24 hectares were being farmed using biodynamic techniques while 7 hectares were organically farmed.

Starting with the 2015 vintage, the entire Enclos vineyard is farmed using 100% organic techniques and 50% of the vines are being farmed using biodynamic techniques. This means that to fight disease, they rely on a myriad of different plants, copper and sulfur, which are all found in nature. All fertilizers 100% organic. In 2019, the entire vineyard of Latour was certified as being 100% organic. That makes a huge statement in Bordeaux. Chateau Latour has an almost unequaled track record for producing stunning wines that age and evolve for decades, if not generations. While mature vintages of Chateau Latour sell for a lot of money, if you have the disposable income, and want to experience the greatness of an older, mature First Growth, this is the wine to buy.

The 1954 Château Latour is a Premier Grand Cru Classé wine from the Pauillac appellation in the Médoc region of Bordeaux, France. Château Latour is one of the most renowned wine-producing estates in Bordeaux and is classified as one of the original First Growths (Premier Grand Cru Classé) in the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855.

The 1954 vintage was not one of the most celebrated in Bordeaux’s history, as the decade was generally marked by a series of challenging vintages. However, top estates like Château Latour have a reputation for producing quality wines even in less favorable years due to their exceptional terroir and winemaking expertise.

Château Latour’s vineyards are situated in the southern part of Pauillac, near the border with the Saint-Julien appellation. The estate’s proximity to the Gironde estuary contributes to a microclimate that can be beneficial for the grapes, particularly the Cabernet Sauvignon variety, which is the dominant grape in Château Latour’s vineyards and the backbone of their wines.

While specific tasting notes for the 1954 Château Latour are not provided in the search results, wines from this estate are known for their power, structure, and potential to age gracefully. They typically exhibit a rich bouquet of aromas, including blackcurrant, tobacco, earth, and cedar, with a well-integrated oak influence from barrel aging.

Given its age, the 1954 Château Latour would be considered a rare collector’s item, and its value would be more historical and sentimental rather than for current drinking pleasure. Bottles of this age and provenance are often sought after by collectors and wine enthusiasts who appreciate the legacy and tradition of Bordeaux’s great châteaux.

The average price of the 1954 Chateau Latour Pauillac Premier Grand Cru Classe Bordeaux is $1,631.00. However, there is also a suggested price listed as $17,835.00 for 5 bottles, which may reflect a specific retailer’s offering or a particularly well-preserved bottle. The average price typically represents a consensus across various retailers and market conditions.

Where can i buy the 1954 chateau latour pauillac premier grand cru classe bordeaux?

You can purchase the 1954 Chateau Latour Pauillac Premier Grand Cru Classe Bordeaux from several sources:

SoDivin offers the bottle for sale, providing a unique selection of vintages, including the 1954 Château Latour. They specialize in rare and older vintages, with express worldwide delivery available

Private Wine Cellars lists the wine with a suggested price of $17,835.00 for 5 bottles. This site appears to offer a lot of 5 bottles of the 1954 Chateau LaTour Pauillac Premier Grand Cru Classe Bordeaux, emphasizing the wine’s historical significance and the estate’s transition to organic viticulture.

Vivino provides a platform where various sellers might list the 1954 Château Latour Grand Vin Pauillac (Premier Grand Cru Classé). While specific sellers and prices might vary, Vivino offers user ratings and reviews, which can be helpful when considering a purchase

Maison Wineted also lists the 1954 Chateau Latour, offering secure storage in Paris, Bordeaux, and Monaco. This could be a good option if you’re looking for professional storage solutions or are based in Europe

Industry Wine Merchant has the 1954 Château Latour Premier Grand Cru Classé Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend listed, providing details on the wine’s blend and pairing suggestions. This could be another source for purchasing this vintage

When looking to purchase a wine as rare and valuable as the 1954 Chateau Latour, it’s important to consider the reputation and reliability of the seller, as well as proper storage and provenance of the bottle. Prices can vary significantly based on these factors.