Château Latour 2014 was released this morning (15 March), making it the youngest Latour grand vin on the market and the third to be released since the first growth estate left the Bordeaux en primeur system in 2012.
Farr Vintners was selling Latour 2014 at £4,950 per 12-bottle case, with six magnums offered at £4,980. Bordeaux Index was offering the wine in six-bottle cases at £2,475 in bond.
Analyst group Wine Lister said the wine had been released at €430 per bottle ex-Bordeaux, up 18% on the 2013-vintage release price.
Decanter’s Georgina Hindle rated Latour 2014 at 96 points after recently tasting it. ‘This is so poised and elegant, a touch of soft sweetness to the red and black fruits,’ she wrote.
It enters a fine wine market that has seen strong price momentum in the past year, particularly on blue-chip names – such as Bordeaux first growths.
Wine Lister said it expected Latour 2014 to be in-demand. ‘A price of £412.50 [per bottle, in bond] places the 2014 in the market well below the current prices of the highly-rated 2010 and 2009 vintages, with only slightly lower critics’ ratings,’ it said.
Matthew O’Connell, CEO of LiveTrade and head of investment at Bordeaux Index, told Decanter, ‘The Latour 2014 is obviously a strong release – one of the best “non benchmark” vintages – and will attract interest for that reason.
‘The pricing is pretty finely balanced and for that reason it will be interesting to see the price path of the wine in the market over the coming months.’
Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, said Latour 2014 was pitched significantly cheaper than the market prices for the lauded triumvirate of 2010, 2009 and 2005, but slightly above other vintages in the preceding decade.
Prior to the 2014-vintage release, it had said a price ‘of around £4,200 [12x 75cl in bond], in-line with the 2012 and 2013’s opening offers, would look compelling’.
Yet Latour 2012 and 2013 have risen in price since release. Liv-ex added: ‘The [Bordeaux] 2014 vintage carries broad appeal as an excellent source of well-priced ‘drinking’ wines.’
During en primeur tastings for fledgling Bordeaux 2014 wines held in spring 2015, barrel samples in Médoc were widely viewed as the best overall since 2010 – albeit not in the same league as this five-star year.
Decanter’s Steven Spurrier declared Latour 2014 his Left Bank wine of the vintage following the en primeur tastings.
Château Latour 2014 is one of several high-profile fine wines being released via the Place de Bordeaux in March 2022.
The first growth estate has also released its Forts de Latour 2016. It was being offered by merchants at £1,960 per 12 bottles in bond, according to Liv-ex.
