Incredible collection of Chateau Latour Wines
Christie’s Hong Kong 2011 Spring Sale of Finest and Rarest Wines titled Rarities from the Cellar of Chateau Latour are offering the incredible opportunity for collectors and wine lovers to acquire a range of vintage Chateau Latour wines. All of the Chateau Latour wines are in pristine condition coming directly from the Chateau Latours own Reserve Cellar. The wines span nearly 150 years from 1863 to 2009, and include star vintages such as 1899, 1928, 1929, 1945, 1959 and 1961.
The Chateau Latour Wine sale, which will be held on 27 May, 2011 at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, will feature 392 lots valued at over HK$25 million/US$3.2 million.
The Latour Seal of Approval gives extra confidence when buying Chateau Latour Wines
All the bottles available within thi auction have been inspected by the Frederic Engerer, the President of Chateau Latour, and the winemaking team. Each bottle bears the Prooftag which is a unique tracing system proving that a bottle has been released directly from the cellar of Chateau Latour in April 2011. This offers wine collectors an additional level of assurance in buying from the auction.
La Belle Epoque: 1863 – 1900
La Belle Époque refers to the great vintages of the momentous years prior to the 20th Century. Incredible vintages include the marvellous pre-phylloxera vintages of 1863 and 1865, as well as the 1890, 1892, 1893, 1896, 1897, and 1898. Also of particular note are the spectacular twin vintages of 1899 and 1900, as these two vintages are legendary monuments of the era and universally recognised as extraordinary wines.
The Golden Age of Chateau Latour Wines: 1901 – 1944
The Golden Age of Chateau Latour includes a period that knew both glorious peaks of brilliance as well as the rather less glorious. This was a particularly fecund time in Bordeaux, and the vintages of the Jazz Age are still lively and delicious ninety years on. 1909, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1926, 1928, and 1929 were all outstanding, and 1924 was very good. Other Golden Age wines on offer include some extremely rare wines from the lean years of the Great Depression and World War.
The Postwar Years: 1945 – 1960
The period between 1945 and 1961 was a glorious one for Cahteau Latour. This is the powerful ‘mid-career’ period of mighty wines, definitely mature but in no way ready for the retirement home. This is the period of many monumental vintages, of which 1945, 1949, and 1959 are among the most renowned of the century. The best wines showed a lush, ripe fruit character that had often deepened over time with the resonance of savoury, meaty flavours that marked mature wine from this epoch.
The Modern Era: 1961 – 1981
At the end of the Second World War, although the market for wine continued to build through the decade and a half, the start of the modern era can be attributed to the tumultuous 1961 vintage. This year, marked by frost and heat, produced a classic that is still alive and vital. This vintage, today fifty years of age, will live in the best of cases for another fifty. Many of the top Chateau Latour wines from 1982 still seem youthful and even not quite ready, and those wines from the late 1970s also often appear more youthful than not.
Chateau Latour Contemporary Classics: 1982 – present
1982 – this vintage of great ripeness and wonderful balance ushered in a decade of strong vintages, including 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989 and 1990, each stronger than the last. These wonderful wines are now coming to maturity and our experience now demonstrates that they merit the praises heaped upon them at the time of their release. The 1990s knew fewer blockbuster years, but the general level of quality was higher here than at any time in the past, and the 1995 and 1996 vintages are recognised classics. The Chateau Latour wines of the most recent decade are almost a repeat of the much heralded 1980’s, from the nearly perfect millennial vintage to the torrid and exotic 2003 (particularly successful at Latour), the elegant and classical 2005, the lush and loveable 2008, and the singular 2009.
