Michael Schuster: Dense, ripe fruit on the nose, so refined already just to smell; beautifully balanced, rich, dense, harmonious wine, fresh and very finely tannic; graceful, rich in ripe but easygoing, gravel-suffused black fruit; long, polished, complex, complete, and with superb length; like Latour itself, very aromatic alongside the fruit. Absolutely lovely Forts de Latour, all gentle power and refinement. 2018–30+. 16.5/17+

Michel Bettane and Thierry Desseauve: Without doubt the most vinous, most structured, most finely sculpted of the “other” wines in this vintage, benefiting from some extraordinary Merlot that was left out of the grand vin: amazingly precise vinification. A magnificent wine that remarkably expresses this great terroir and will be a great consolation to those who don’t have access to the grand vin. 18.5