LIMITED
Drink Window: 2024 - 2046
Blend: 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot and 3% Malbec
98 Points James Suckling
Blackberry, blackcurrant and mint with some sage and crushed-stone undertones. Full-bodied with chewy tannins that are in-check and nicely polished. Smoke, toasted oak and bark at the end, complementing the fresh yet ripe fruit. Drink after 2024.
98 Points Vinous
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve is fabulous. Inky, rich and explosive, the 2018 is a fine addition to the lineage of one of Napa Valley's most historic wines. Inky red fruit, chocolate, leather and licorice all open in the glass. Aeration brings out floral top notes, raspberry and a hint of blood orange. There is plenty of depth, but the tannins are finer than they were a few years ago. Shorter time on the skins and a reduction in barrel fermentations really allow the pedigree of these Rutherford sites to come through. The 2018 is sensational.
97+ Points Jeb Dunnuck
The flagship 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Georges De Latour Private Reserve is a gorgeous wine from this team that's reminiscent of the 2016, if not slightly more tannic. Blackcurrants, cassis, tobacco leaf, and nicely integrated oak all make an appearance, and it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a beautiful sense of purity and freshness, flawless balance, and a great finish. It has plenty of structure and, like a lot of 2018s, not a huge amount of baby fat, which gives it a firmer, more age-worthy vibe. While it's unquestionably approachable today, do your best to hide bottles for 4-5 years, and it should have a gradual evolution over the coming 20-25 years. I followed this bottle for multiple days and it only improved. It's brilliant, seamless wine in the making.
97 Points Wine Enthusiast
The famous wine lives up to its historic promise in this wonderfully complex and structured vintage, the wine showing an abundance of tension and youthful grip. Earthy in dried herb, cedar and sage, it shares notes of black currant, cassis and forest within a textured and brightly layered foundation of elegant ageablity.
Cellar Selection
96+ Points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve Georges de Latour is a blend of 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot and 3% Malbec. Deep garnet-purple in color, it prances out of the glass with flamboyant scents of blackberry preserves, wild blueberries and crème de cassis, followed by hints of cigar box, Chinese five spice and pencil shavings with a waft of menthol. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a solid structure of firm grainy tannins and seamless freshness supporting the muscular black fruit, finishing long and earthy. Drink Window: 2024 - 2046
96 Points Decanter Magazine
An excellent 2018 from one of the oldest and most historic estates in Napa filled with just the right amount of density, power and structure. The nose is rich and fruit-filled, bursting with blackcurrants, raspberries and black cherries alongside perfumed aromatics and touches of dried herbs. The first sip shows the wine’s depth and concentration, full-bodied with layers of cherry, liquorice and tobacco leaf with an unlying suppleness and freshness that gives bounce and chewiness to the fruit. Lovely density and juice throughout with velvet-like tannins and sustaining acidity. Vibrant and youthful with plenty of potential for ageing. A blend of 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot and 3% Malbec. Wines are aged for 22 months in French oak, 95% new barrels.
Winemaker Notes
The 2018 Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is exceptional, with a beautifully expressive nose full of ripe berry fruit aromas of raspberry, red currant, black cherry and black currant, alongside hints of fresh chaparral herbs like wild lavender, violet and rose, fresh mint, sage, bay laurel and juniper berry. Perfumed exotic spice notes from the well-integrated aging in new French oak barrels adds vanilla, cedar, clove and cinnamon, and also supports the lush fruit, showcasing the depth, concentration, and balance of this extraordinary Cabernet. Full-bodied with breadth and weight, the rich expansive palate is layered with robust flavors of black cherry, red currant, thyme, leather, sweet tobacco leaf and rose petal.
Signature “Rutherford Dust” tannins add a velvety-rich, cocoa-powder texture, supple length and firm presence to the lengthy finish, while secondary notes of earth, clay, dark chocolate and espresso dance on the palate until your next sip. The mouthwatering palate is silky, ethereal and sinewy, with a line of vibrant acidity, while also seamlessly integrating with the full-bodied texture, crafting a wine that is nuanced, indulgent and plentiful, offering layers of complexity, depth and structure. Inviting and beguiling now, this Cabernet is youthful and spirited, but will surely allow for age-worthiness for many years to come, if you can keep your hands off it.
