Les Forts de Latour takes its name from an historic plot in the « Enclos ». The wine was first labelled with this name in 1966 and constant work on developing its quality has resulted in its achieving the level of a Médoc Grand Cru Classé.

2018 was our final year of conversion to organic viticulture. A challenging vintage, it will be remembered for its record-breaking winter rainfall with a total of 330mm from December through to January. Even early spring remained unprecedently wet and cool. Budburst was late and took place on 3rd April for the Merlot and 10th April for the Cabernet Sauvignon. A hot and dry April encouraged uniform vegetative growth, whereas May was particularly unstable, wet and stormy, with significant flooding and even violent hailstorms. Despite this, the warmer days ensured that a good growth rate was maintained and that the bunches set well.

During the first five days of July, 46mm of rainfall led to a big infestation of downy mildew putting significant pressure on our teams. The rest of the summer was exceptionally hot and dry, with both heat- and water-stress noticeable in August. Fortunately, a series of storms at the end of the month brought 21mm of rain, revitalising the suffering vines and kickstarting the ripening process. Despite a few showers early on, September was beautiful and dry, with picking starting on 17th. We harvested grapes of exceptional quality and concentration. However, due to constant cryptogamic disease pressure throughout the year, meticulous sorting was required and yields were low.

Les Forts de Latour is produced with the same meticulous care as the Grand Vin, both in the vineyard and in the winery. The only notable difference, apart from the origin of the grapes, is the proportion of new barrels (50 to 60%) used in the maturing stage. The blend for Forts de Latour can vary from one year to the next but there is always a higher proportion of Merlot (25 to 30%) compared to the Grand Vin.