Tasted in Beaune with Christophe Deola, 07 December 2023.
Maison Louis Latour
18 Rue des Tonneliers
21200 Beaune
Tel: +33 3 80 24 81 00
www.louislatour.com
Producer’s Instagram
More reports with Maison Louis Latour
On 2023:
“Cleanliness wasn’t the best – there was a lot to triage – we did a green harvest and for the first time since 2017 we removed a lot of leaves to aerate the grapes to avoid as much rot as possible. In the end it was very good – the wines look fine – maybe a cross between 2017 and 2018 – more concentrated than 2017 for sure. We also saw some acid rot. The grapes were a little better and needed less triage in the Côte de Beaune.”
On 2022:
“The weather was nice, no maladies and we harvested in good temperatures but not hot. There was some ‘deception’ in the reds – they were heterogeneous, some were perfect, and others were behind in maturity – the same in white but on a lower level. 35-36 hl/ha for the reds and 38-39 hl/ha in the whites – so clearly not excessive. Actually, the vines looked really great – there was some shut-down for 10-15 days when nothing changed in mid-August. I adore these 2022s. You can drink them far too fast – though 2020 is, I think, greater.”
The wines…
Good reds but there are many more great whites here in 2022. Like most years!
More and more DIAM used, and for all the half-bottles and for magnums too. For now, most of the 1ers and GCs stay with cork but NdTec – it’s possible that in the future they could move to all DIAM:
2022 Marsannay Blanc
Not yet bottled.
Freshness, this is actually quite perfumed and with some concentration too. Fresh, round, showing a little generosity but cool and nicely shaped – that’s a lovely wine. A nice if slightly hard spine to the wine today – but let it relax over the next 1-2 years…
2022 Pouilly-Fuissé 1er
An assembly of ‘a few 1ers…’
Higher-toned yellow citrus notes, growing quite floral. Broad, incisive – great stature in the mouth – super texture – intense and young finishing – keep this a while too – also 1-2 years – but here are clean, sweeping delicious flavours.
2022 Santenay Blanc
Narrower perfume but with fine high tones and an extra depth of aroma. Here the wide flavour has more focus on the fruit and the clean, almost incisive, style of that fruit. Slowly fading with a stony fruit impression. This will be lovely.
2022 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er En Caradeux
Domaine vines.
Yes! A fine aromatic of Pernand vibration – lovely! Gas here – but cool, fresh, silky wine that’s more direct. Stony finishing with a suggestion of the barrel – delicious, super wine – and you won’t have to wait as long to enjoy this one – simply excellent wine!
The first wine not bottled.
Yes – classic, slightly spiced width of aroma. Also some gas. This is so direct, with acidulated fruit – and a vibrantly intense, saline finish. Bravo villages!
2022 Puligny-Montrachet
Bottled
Hmm – a more composed width of aroma – yellow citrus with the accent of barrel. More open and panoramic – the silkiest of texture and a mineral fluidity that supports all the flavour. Juicy and delicious – more chewy finishing than the linear Meursault.
Ooh – the most perfumed of these villages – beautifully floral with a tiny fleshy generosity. The combination of the last two with an element that’s very direct – but also with width. That will be a great villages but wait 2-3 years.
2022 Meursault 1er Genevrières
Airy, less forward aromas – but of course, very inviting. Some gas. Vibrating with delicious energy – like the nose these flavours are more airy but this is so much more complex than the villages wines. Broad, broad, broad in the finish and just so long – class!
2022 Meursault 1er Blagny
A little more direct, beautifully perfumed and well-focused. Silky, growing broad – equally silky in the mouth – a bit more intensity vs the Genevrières but not the same airy delivery of flavour – but still beautiful flavour – calmer finishing but still with a core of energetic fruit.
2022 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Clos St.Jean
A width of pure citrus – yellow and vibrant – but also fine. Extra volume – more structured, with a veneer of barrel – but good barrel – in the flavour. Silky again – lovely texture – then a broad, mouth-watering finishing. A beauty!
Ooh – so aromatic, almost a smoky accent to these florals. Large in the mouth – lithe muscle but flesh too – this is a very sexy (sorry!) wine – just so alluring. Bravo!
2022 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Sous les Puits
A smaller yet still wide nose – fine focus and very pretty yellow citrus. More structure and width – a little less sucrosity – but if you’re not comparing to a dozen other whites – you won’t notice. Fine mouth-filling scale and cushioned energy – a lovely wine – the finish subtle but very long. I’d keep it a couple of years just to give it the chance to open more…
A lovely width of aroma here – not the largest but this is a super invitation to drink – slowly adding more attractive higher tones – even a little boiled sweets. Oh – that’s direct and vibrant but also concentrated and wrapped in a tiny grain of tannin. That’s SOOO good! Bravo!
10 ha, not all in production.
A small toast is the first aroma – the wine slowly opening, broadening, with more citrus complexity. Energy and despite the concentration so open and fluid – scale! You should obviously wait for this structure but what a great wine. Wait at least 5 years…
2022 Bâtard-Montrachet ‘Clos Poirier’
The 4th vintage with this label – prior it was blended with other domaine sources. Owned by Mr Poirier, the clos shared with the Pierre Morey domaine of Meursault.
A smaller nose but one of depth. Narrower – more focused – and super concentrated. You trade concentration for (visible) structure in this wine. A finish you can chew but without loss of balance. You will need to wait for this too – but for a different reason – to let it open and become more exuberant.
Almost the centre of the vineyard – the same parcel every year
Not the largest but here’s a vibrant nose of beautiful floral complexity over a small mineral vibration. Hmm, such cool flavours, partly saline, ultra-complex. And this is the longest finisher for sure. That will be a great bottle!
Les Reds:
2022 Marsannay
A melange of multiple parcels.
Deep, dark, very attractive fruit. Mouth-filling quite sweet, ripe, fruit. Slightly structural. A ripe wine and quite full – chunky fruit.
2022 Aloxe-Corton
Domaine
Much more modest colour. Pretty, airy red fruit and it’s quite complex too – just getting better in the glass. Large scale and more clarity of flavour – lots of red fruit complexity and a little , slightly grained, tannin – but that’s a very lovely wine.
2022 Gevrey-Chambertin
The Maison assembly of different contracts.
A deeper red fruit – darker more focused. Some gas. Lots of volume and some sweetness again. Lots of good things but a wine that needs more elevage.
2022 Nuits St.Georges
Smaller, more floral and more ‘together’ – that’s a lovely nose. Gas again. The tannin that frames this is clearly on a higher level – the clarity of fruit is super though – good intensity too. Wait 3 years – it’s very, very good! Chewy, almost wc finishing but there was none.
2022 Vosne-Romanée
A finer but smaller width of aroma. Larger scale in the mouth, a little saline, framed with tannin again – but with so much less drying effect and micro-grained. The middle and finishing flavour is broader and more overtly complex today – you could also say more accessible. Lovely wine.
2022 Chambolle-Musigny
Cliché airy, floral-perfumed nose – that’s beautiful. Fuller, more velour to this texture and almost no dryness despite some small tannic grain. Darker, fruit – black cherry in the finishing flavour. What a wine! Simply excellent Chambolle!
2022 Beaune 1er Vignes Franches
Domaine
That’s also very perfumed – in this case more from the fruit than the flowers. Broad, what a panorama! Darker fruit again – but lithe, muscled, wine – here showing a little more structure than the Chambolle. Dark cherry finishing again.
2022 Aloxe-Corton 1er Les Chaillots
This domaine, like the last…
Again, like its smaller brother, with airier red fruit complexity. Width but also quite direct red fruit flavour. Dryness but not drying your palate – the grain larger and perhaps riper. Slowly fading on a red fruit note – that’s very delicious and faintly drying in the end of the finish.
2022 Volnay 1er Chevrets
A contract
Large scale – darker fruit due to some reduction – still a little high-toned perfume too. Mouth-filling some structure and a nicely broad and muscular style to this wine – but still the note of reduction altering the flavour perceptions today – almost peppery finishing…
More direct, beautiful darker-red fruit. Broader, beautiful velour texture – a little generosity to this texture despite obvious structure. Super wine – so long! Wait 5+ years – to 30+ years – no problem!
2022 Vosne-Romanée 1er Chaumes
This has a different, more airy quality to the aroma – but still supported by fine concentration. Large in the mouth – with energy too. There’s a little grain to this too – but also the granular complexity of Vosne. Long finishing. That’s very good and also be patient – 3+ years…
2022 Corton Vigne au Saint
There’s a bit of sulfur here but also beautifully aromatic red fruit. Red fruit complexity in the mouth too – nicely but not overtly structured open and accessible flavour – but not simple. That’s a beauty!
2022 Corton Grancy
Much colour. A fresh width of aroma supported by much darker colour fruit. This is actually rather nice – more fluid and open – dark fruit still, a slightly cooked style to the dark fruit but not lacking any freshness. That’s a sneakily long finish too!!!
2022 Chambertin Cuvée Héritiers Latour
More a core of aroma here, faintly menthol. In the mouth that’s fabulous – fruity complexity, obvious but very open structure with accessible flavour. The finish is panoramic with lovely, lovely complex fruit – and so long. Proper, super-long Chambertin. Simply excellent wine.
2022 Romanée St.Vivant Les Quatre Journeaux
‘The beauty of this and the last wine – we don’t have to do anything with them, you put the good grapes in a tank and it does the rest itself!’
A completely different style/structure to this nose – the granular complexity of Vosne but much finer-grained. Supple, large in the middle, slowly melting over the palate with some additional saline complexity. Very classy!