This wine was tasted from my personal collection, following the Latour tasting. The 1985 Latour is a soft, open-knit example, without much structure, delineation, and depth. The dark ruby color displays amber at the edge. The bouquet of tobacco, black fruits, herbs, earth, and new oak is pleasant, but neither intense nor persistent. The wine is medium-bodied, with sweet fruit on the attack, but it narrows out to reveal dry tannin and herbaceous notes. Anticipated maturity: now-2012.

Tasted blind at the 1985 Bordeaux horizontal, the 1985 Chateau Latour put in a decent performance, although it is, and never has been, a great Latour. It has a respectable nose of black, earthy fruit, tinged with brine and leather. It does not exactly convince you of its pedigree. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, perhaps more backward than previous examples with a slightly grainy texture. What it is missing is substance, grip and conviction, a Latour content to deliver the minimum instead of reaching for the stars. Here, it is outflanked by both 1985s from Lynch Bages and Haut-Brion. Tasted July 2015.

Rich and ripe wine. Dark red color with an amber edge. Loads of meat, berry and tobacco character on the nose. Very rich. Full-bodied, with soft, velvety tannins and a long, ultraripe fruit finish. Still very fresh and young.--Latour vertical. Best from 2000 through 2015.