Château Latour re-releases 2012 vintage
Château Latour has released the second tranche of its 2012 vintage this morning, five years after the first tranche hit the market.
The 2012 vintage was first released in May 2020 – delayed due to the Covid pandemic and reportedly comprising around 6,500 cases – and was the first vintage released to the market ready to be consumed since the Pauillac-based First Growth withdrew from the en primeur system in 2012.
The estate is owned by Artémis Domaines and is one of the few Bordeaux estates that does not offer its wines en primeur, although since then, the group has continued to concentrate on releasing bottled wines that had already been aged in the cellar, with the aged stock released from its cellars in March and September.
At the time of its first release, it was one of the most affordable Latour vintages then available on the market, but today’s second release is priced around 20% higher than the original ex-negociant price, at €420 per bottle, ex-negociant. According to Liv-ex, the consumer’s price, once margin is added, was likely to reach around €495 per bottle, or around £5,168 per case of twelve – a mark up of around 30% above the 2012’s current market price.
However, UK merchants appear to be offering this new tranche at £400, according to Wine Lister, at a premium to the existing bottles on the 2012 on the UK market, which start at around £329.
Critics reviews varied, with Jane Anson and Neal Martin of Vinous awarding it 97 points – and calling it “a serious contender” for the “wine of the vintage” in a 2021 retasting, ahead of Lisa Perrotti Brown MW’s 96 points and James Suckling’s 94-points.
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It is, Liv-ex noted, the sixth most traded Bordeaux wine by value in the year to date, with the 2016 vintage (which was released in May) and the 2005 and 2010 vintages making up the top positions.
In addition to the Grand vin, the estate has also released its second and third wines, Les Forts de Latour 2012, for €130 per bottle ex-negociant – down 10.3% from its first release in 2020.
Rerelease of Palmer
The release of the Latour follows the second trance release on Friday of the 2015 vintage of Château Palmer. This hit the market at €258 per bottle ex-negociant, with a recommended retail price of €300 per bottle via La Place de Bordeaux.
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