Château Latour releases its long-awaited 2016 vintage

Château Latour has released the critically acclaimed 2016 vintage grand vin onto the market place — a year later than originally expected —  alongside its second and third labels.  The Pauillac-based First Growth, which is owned by Artémis Domaines, was due to release of the 2016 last year, however it was held back in order to benefit from an extra year of ageing in the cellar, while the 2017 was released instead, being deemed "more open and accessible" at the time. The 2016, a blend of 92.9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7.1% Merlot, has been released at €470 ex-chateau, €540 ex-negociant, and £6,200 per case of 12 bottles, which is equivalent to €614.4 per bottle.  There are around 5000 cases of the vintage released. It is also a 22.7% discount to the current Market Price of the 2010, Liv-ex said, which remains the only other 100-point scoring Latour on the market. It is a slight decrease on the 2015 vintage, which was released at £6,300 per case two years ago, but up on the lesser-scoring 2017 vintage, which was released last year at £4,800 for case of 12x 75cl. Château Latour is one of the few great estates that does not offer its wines en primeur, having left the system back in 2012 in order to concentrate on releasing bottled wines that had already been aged in the cellar. According to Matthew O'Connell, head of investment at Bordeaux Index and CEO of the LiveTrade fine wine exchange, the release is coming at a time when the  market conditions are still challenging.

"The sales environment in 2024 was tough across the board, and Latour was no exception," he said. "Year-on-year sales fell approximately 40%, and sales over the five-year average declined 45%, marking the lowest level in a decade."

In addition, Latour typically lags behind other First Growths due to its absence from the en primeur (EP) campaign, however, when adjusting for EP sales (excluding 2023 for Haut-Brion, Lafite, Margaux, and Mouton, and 2017 for Latour), it ranked third in 2024, he pointed out, "just ahead of Mouton but well behind Lafite, despite the headwinds in the East". In terms of vintage preferences and buyer trends, Latour vintage sales are skewed heavily in favour of prime/semi-mature vintages - in part due to its distinctive distribution model, which sees aged stock released from its cellars each March and September. As a result of this model, the top-performing vintages in 2024 on the market were the 2009, 2000, and 2005, "reflecting continued demand for well-established, high-scoring years", O'Connell said. In addition, while the broader market remains challenging, he noted that after 30 months of correction, "there are signs of renewed activity and even isolated price appreciation." As a result, O'Connell argues that the Latour 2016 is well-positioned to received a strong reception, given the critical acclaim it has garnered and the relative value it offers, despite the difficult market conditions. The 2016 has, he noted benefitted from rave reviews, "even from the more curmudgeonly critics" - gaining 100 points from Neal Martin and Antonio Galloni of Vinous, Jane Anson, and Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW of The Wine Independent, with the Wine Advocate's William Kelley awarding it 96+ points. Martin called it "magnificent" and "everything you could really wish for in a Latour". "It is one of those ones that genuinely wowed us, so fulsome endorsement won't be a chore," O'Connell agreed. It also helps that comparable vintages - particularly the 2009 and 2010 - are priced around 40% higher, he noted, making this release "compelling for buyers". Indeed, ahead of the release, Bordeaux Index warned its customers that global demand is likely to be "extremely high, even in the current market, and securing stocks might not be that easy" and recommended registering interest prior to the release date. The 2010, which also scored 100-points, was released before Latour withdrew from en primeur in 2012. It was priced at €710 per bottle ex-château or €850 per bottle ex-négociant, or£11,000 per case of 12 ex-London, but it has a current Market Price of around £8,020, according to Liv-ex (as of 5th March 2025), trading at around 22% beneath its release price in recent months.

Speaking ahead of the release, O'Connell told db that if Latour reaches the end consumer at ~£3,200 per 6, "we feel it would represent fair market value," In addition to the Grand vin, the estate has also released its second and third wines, Les Forts de Latour 2019 and Pauillac de Latour 2020.