I´ve had the question a thousand times – what´s your best wine ever? I´ve replied a thousand times – difficult to say as I´ve been luckily so spoiled with a tremendous plethora of great and legendary wines. However, emotionally my first great wine I ever tasted was Château Latour 1982! I remember the moment and I clearly recollect the sensation of imbibing this rare nectar! It was like something that never ever happened before, somewhat like losing your virginity even if the Latour probably beats that experience by far! Yet it was something rare with it as it showed such a remarkable perfume and intensity. Surely being a benchmark Pauillac but with a twist of exoticism that few other wines I had tasted at this time showed. The real overwhelming moment came when I actually drunk the wine – it showed such a power without being heavy or overly pushed! It was just so seamless, and it never ever ended on the palate. That sensation of those refined tannins just taking their place and sticking on to the palate delivering those beautiful mature flavours. This occurred in 2000 and I was just fresh out of sommelier school not really knowing what to do in life,however Latour 1982 certainly hooked me and I fully blame it for ending up being a sommelier after all!
Since then, I had it on many occasions in many settings and beyond being great it´s an utterly consequent and reliable wine. I never had a bad bottle, and while nothing lasts forever and some legendary wines start to fade, being less impressive than they used to be, Latour 1982 is nowhere near that! Secondly, I love to blind taste this one as it´s definitely a wine I´m always able to nail as it has such a remarkable personality and style.
I´m out of bottles myself today but luckily, I have friends with well-endowed cellars that are happy to bring a bottle if I do the cooking! That´s an amazingly easy thing to do after all! Thus, another question I had a thousand times – what food would you serve with this wine? Simplicity is the key! Top quality products prepared in a not too complicated way is the answer! On the last occasion my friend especially asked for a truffled chicken et voilà! It doesn´t have to get more complicated!
