Chateau Latour 1961, Bordeaux: Vintage Notes, Taste, Critical Acclaim

Chateau Latour 1961 is a legendary wine from a difficult vintage. The year’s frost damaged most of the Merlot vines in Pauillac, resulting in a higher proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes in the blend.

It is also the last Latour vintage fermented in aging wooden vats, which were replaced with stainless steel vats in 1964. In this article, let’s discover more about the Chateau Latour 1961 vintage - it's tasting notes, drinkability, price, and food pairings. We’ll also discuss what wine critics think about this Bordeaux fine wine and its record-breaking auction price.

Chateau Latour 1961: Characteristics and Tasting Notes

Chateau Latour Grand Vin displays excellent consistency and depth, thanks to the gravel soils and proximity to the Gironde estuary.

The Chateau Latour 1961 vintage is a beautifully complex and complete red wine, yet amazingly youthful. 

1961’s late frost in May resulted in a minimal crop in the Latour vineyard, resulting in ripe, concentrated wines bursting with magnificence and richness. 

This richness and perfect balance of this great wine also resulted from picking the berries before excessive ripeness set in.

This soft and supple Bordeaux wine bursts with aromas of spice, mint, black currants, and mineral, followed by black cherry, black fruit, forest floor, and graphite flavors on the palate.

Is Chateau Latour 1961 Wine Still Drinkable?

This beautifully balanced wine from the Médoc region has an intense tannin profile, which resulted in a glorious 1961 vintage that’s drinkable even today. 

In fact, in 2000, wine critic Michael Broadbent estimated that this “mammoth wine could last for another half-century.”

Price and Appreciation of Chateau Latour 1961

A Chateau Latour 1961 red wine bottle can cost around $6,200. 

The wines scarcity (only 65,232 bottles made) and exceptional taste have only increased the vintage’s popularity and demand. 

No surprise, this vintage showed a 40% increase in price from $4,469 in 2020 to $6,270 in 2021.

Chateau Latour 1961: World Record Wine Auction Price

At an auction held by Christie’s in November 2003, a case of the Chateau Latour 1961 red wine was sold for a staggering $56,400 - setting a world record.

This amount was 262% more than the wine’s average price in the 2003 Wine Spectator auction index.

Delicious Food Pairings for the Chateau Latour 1961

A bottle of this legendary wine is best served at 15oC-16oC (around 60oF.) 

For an exotic Latour dinner, pair this fine wine with classic meat dishes like roasted chicken. Its black cherry and mineral notes also go well with Asian food, pasta, tuna, and grilled dishes. 

Critical Acclaim for the Chateau Latour 1961

This illustrious wine has won the hearts of many famous wine lovers and critics. Here’s what they have to say about it:

• The author of ‘Wines of Bordeaux’ Clive Coates MW, gave this wine a perfect score, finding the depth and the concentration of the fruit to be splendid, aristocratic, and still youthful.

• Hugh Johnson found the aromatic nuances of the Grand Vin wine ‘room stomping’ and flavors ‘awe-inspiring.’

• Robert Parker tagged it as one of the Bordeaux legends of the century. He notes that these bottles of liquid perfection have an unctuous texture and a dark garnet color with considerable amber at the edge, exhibiting truffle and cedar wood aromatics. Its acidity, voluptuous textures, exquisite purity, and a layered highly nuanced finish are the essence of a compellingly great wine. 

• Jancis Robinson - quite amazed by the wine’s staggering depth of color, unctuous texture, and enormous vigour - suggests that you can drink this wine through 2040.

Bring Home the Precious Chateau Latour 1961

Latour’s 1961 vintage is rare, critically acclaimed, and can add tremendous value to any wine collection. 

Even the second wine of this French wine estate, Les Forts de Latour, is a sought-after collectible. 

But ensuring the authenticity and provenance of a Chateau Latour bottle can be pretty challenging - unless you partner with a trusted wine investment platform like Vinovest.

With Vinovest, you can buy, store, and sell authentic fine wine bottles like Chateau Latour, Dom Perignon, Krug, or any other prestigious bottle from anywhere in the world.