2003 Château Latour, Pauillac, Bordeaux

A very flamboyant and exciting Latour. Sliced black truffles, sweet leather, spices, and dark fruits on the nose. Full and powerful, with roasted fruit and leather undertones. Big and velvety, with polished, almost dusty tannins, and a super long finish. This leans more towards sexy than intellectual. Very concentrated.james_suckling, jamessuckling_com (February 2011)

Magnum. Magisterial! Immediately profound on the nose, delivering rock-solid classic Bordeaux. So lengthy, so refined. A rich tapestry of flavours from the darkest fruits to the most lifted fragrance. And so lengthy! Truly worth the accolades, and who knew 2003 would turn out so well?Drink 2018 - 2033richard_hemming_mw, JancisRobinson.com (May 2022)

The 2003 Latour is a wine that I have tasted many times, even buying some en primeur. Now it is reaching 20 years, and like other 2003s, I am beginning to think that even the best wines in the early days are starting to fall short of expectations. That is not to say it is a bad wine by any means. With layers of black fruit on the nose and hints of cedar, white pepper and aniseed, it is pretty burly aromatically and opens nicely with 20-30 minutes in the glass. The palate is structured and assertive, with grippy tannins and plenty of tobacco-infused black fruit. However, compared to other vintages, there is something just a bit "static" about this First Growth, an immovable object. Moreover, the longer I remain in its presence, it seems a little removed from a typical Latour as if the imprimatur of the growing season is beginning to influence the wine more than the terroir. I've scored this wine high in the past, but it's a complex wine to really love at the moment. Drink 2024 - 2050Neil Martin, Vinous.com.com (August 2023)

Red-ruby. Explosive aromas of plum liqueur, currant, minerals and lead pencil. Huge, lush, sweet and utterly seamless; this has the palate-caressing texture of liquid velvet. About as deep as this extreme vintage gets. Finishes with noble, compellingly sweet tannins and great length. This is an amazing wine, and only its exotic character prevented me from giving it an even higher score. Interestingly, the IPT here is 65, compared to 67 for the 2005. But this voluminous and powerful wine will be more fun to drink than the 2005 for many years simply due to its sensual appeal, even if the 2005 should ultimately surpass it in verve, minerality and overall aromatic complexity. Incidentally, Latour's third wine, simply called Pauillac, is extremely good in both 2005 and 2003-the former vintage showing terrific energy and loads of early personality, and the latter fat, round and exotic, with what Engerer described as a "Napa nose."Stephen Tanzer, Vinous.com.com (May 2006)

Administrator Frederic Engerer says the 2003 is “the sexiest Latour ever made.” He also described it as “the 1990 without any brettanomyces.” I loved this wine from the barrel and was fortunate enough to be able to purchase a small quantity, enjoying every bottle I have had. A profound example of Chateau Latour, the full-bodied, opulent 2003 is already performing well at age eleven, which is somewhat atypical. The pH is a relatively high 3.8, which also indicates low acidity. The wine is very ripe, but not over-ripe, offers great freshness, and lots of creme de cassis and camphor as well as hints of blackberries and chocolate. Dense, thick and unctuously textured, this staggering Latour is undeniably the most sumptuous, opulent wine made here since the 1982 or 1961. Drink it over the next two decades. robert_parker - Wine Advocate - Aug 2014