[the other] Latour

[the other] Latour

In the wine world, Latour is a very famous name. A château in south-west France bearing this name produces some of the most sought-after wines in the world (the region sounds like an uninterested female deer if you don’t know it). However, there is another Latour: Pippa Latour.

The other Latour: Pippa Latour

Pippa Latour was the last surviving female spy of Churchill’s famous Secret Army.

She was born in South Africa to a French father and a British mother. She was at a “finishing” school for young ladies in Paris when WWII broke out. She moved to England, joining the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) and then, once her French language and other skills had been identified, the Special Operations Executive (SOE).

She was parachuted behind enemy lines in France. Disguised as a French peasant selling soap, she monitored German troop movements and radioed intelligence back to the UK.

After the war, she married, had four children, and lived in various countries. While living in Fiji, she decided things weren’t working out with her husband, so she took the four children and left him — and Fiji.

She clambered onto a plane she thought was bound for Brisbane — they had lived there prior to Fiji — but it landed at Whenuapai.

She didn’t have enough money for another flight to Brisbane, so she settled in West Auckland, where she remained.

It wasn’t until decades later, when Pippa was in her 80s, that one of her now-adult children discovered a story on this newfangled thing called the internet about a heroic WWII spy who had the same name as his mum.

Pippa had never mentioned her wartime heroics to anyone and was reluctant to talk about the war, let alone write a book about it.

Thankfully, Pippa did end up recording her memoirs. She didn’t want them published until she had passed — which she now, sadly, has. She died on 7 October 2023 at the age of 102. She was the last of the secret agents.

Hence the name of her memoir, The Last Secret Agent, which is a must-read.

The label

The image on the label is inspired by the British Army Parachute Wings Badge, which denotes that the wearer is a qualified military parachutist. This was awarded to Pippa and was something she wore alongside her many military medals.

What is [the other] Latour?

This wine, like Pippa’s life, is something of an eclectic mix: a field blend of roughly equal parts Petit Manseng, Verdelho and Albariño.

It was cool-fermented in stainless steel. It’s a dry wine, but the ferment was stopped just a smidge before completion, so there’s about 4 g/L of residual sugar, giving the wine a nice round finish.

[the other] Latour is a distinctive boutique New Zealand white wine for people who enjoy something a little different — a field blend with freshness, personality and a very good story behind it.