Auction Name: 2026 May 22 Fine & Rare Wine Signature® Auction - Beverly Hills

Lot Number: 173

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/5594*173

Chateau Latour 1996
Pauillac
1lbsl
Bottle (3)

Carved in Granite: The Maine Cellar.  From a distinguished private cellar in coastal Maine comes a collection built for long-term aging. Constructed in the 1970s and carved into granite bedrock, the cellar maintains stable conditions, with temperatures ranging from approximately 52°F to 60°F and consistently high humidity, while bottles are organized by region and vintage, many fitted with handwritten neck tags to minimize handling and preserve condition.

“From my cellar, the 1996 Latour is still a very youthful, tightly wound wine, unfurling in the glass with notions of blackcurrants, loamy soil, cigar wrapper and English walnuts. Medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, it's built around by ripe, increasingly melting tannins and a bright spine of acidity, concluding with a long, penetrating finish. Given this Latour's ruby-black hue and impeccable structure, it still has a long future ahead of it. Today, it really begins to expatiate after four hours in a decanter.” (95+ pts. William Kelley, Wine Advocate, Feb. 2022)

"Fabulous aromas of crushed raspberries, plums and blackberries. Mind-blowing nose. Full-bodied, with soft and silky tannins and a long caressing finish." (96 pts. James Suckling, Wine Spectator, March 2007)

"The 1996 Latour is medium to deep garnet in color with a profound earthy, meaty, gamey nose with hints of blueberry preserves, crème de cassis and pencil shavings. The palate is full-bodied, concentrated and packed with muscular fruit, with a firm, ripe, grainy backbone and epically long finish. Showing much more youthfully than the 2000 tasted on the same day and still possessing bags of youthful fruit in the mid-palate, this beauty is going to go on and on!" (99 pts. Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Advocate, Feb. 2019)

"Deep garnet-black in color, the 1996 is classic Latour at its utmost. The nose offers a tantalizing array of complex notes including dried Chinese plums, toasted nuts, Indian spices and black olive tapenade over a core of dried cherries and aged meat. The palate is pure power that is stunningly balanced giving a generous level of fruit concentration perfectly offset by a high level of very finely grained tannins and seamless freshness. Possessing a finish that just goes on and on, this is as good as it gets." (100 pts. Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Advocate, Nov. 2012)

“Inky black even at 25 years old. A hugely impressive wine, with plenty of chewy tannins still in play, ripples of cassis, bilberry and blackberry fruits, set against olive paste, charcoal and eucalyptus. Things have softened around the edges no question, this is still full of life with decades ahead of it, but this is a great moment to start enjoying its promise. Textbook Latour in many ways, for its austerity and power, and its serious character that is underlaid by concentrated pleasure showcasing 'the gift of sub-gravel clays'.” (98 pts. Jane Anson, Jan. 2021)

“The 1996 Latour is a wine that I often find overrated and did not achieve everything that might have been possible in this favourable growing season. That said, this might well be the best of around two dozen bottles I have encountered over the years. As usual, the 1996 is decidedly austere at first, standoffish, looks down its nose at you. Yet it coalesces with time and develops engaging cedar-scented black fruit tinged with pencil box and a touch of iris with time. The palate (again) is a little muted at first but it soon found its voice and evolved very fine tannin allied with a crisp line of acidity. It is not quite as demonstrative as it was even just a couple of years ago, gained some detail and perhaps it will continue to meliorate. Very fine, very fine indeed—but not a patch of say, the Château Margaux or perhaps even Léoville Las Cases.” (94 pts. Neal Martin, Vinous, Feb. 2018)

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