Maison Louis Latour - Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Charmes 2020

A great wine is taking shape, with a deep black color—very rare in Chambolle but characteristic of this vintage—a floral nose, a taffeta-like texture, perfectly ripe grapes, and a high alcohol content without any heaviness. Long finish. Cellar for twelve to fifteen years.

This family-owned estate, founded in 1797, is primarily associated with the Côte de Beaune, where it owns most of its vineyards, culminating in a magnificent plot on the famous Corton hillside. Louis-Fabrice, the eleventh generation of the Latour family, chairs the family board of directors and has complete confidence in his excellent winemakers. The reds have undergone extended fermentation, giving them more body and substance; the whites are less reductive and more harmoniously oaked than in the past, with a constant pursuit of balance that sometimes leads to them being underestimated in their youth, but they age magnificently. The 2017 vintage continues the successful tradition of the 2010 and 2015 vintages in both reds and whites, but we have more confidence in the wines made from the estate’s own vineyards than in certain purchased grapes—especially in the whites, which are too diluted.

A family-owned estate that has always been independent, founded in 1797 and run by 10 successive generations of the Latour family. A key player in Burgundy’s wine industry and the largest owner of Grand Cru vineyards in the Côte-d’Or (28 hectares out of the 48 that make up its vineyard). The grapes are vinified in Aloxe-Corton, the family’s birthplace, and the estate has its own cooperage.

The nose of this wine already hints at its graceful balance between fruit and spice. A sophisticated intensity of crushed cherry, cranberry, and pomegranate unfolds on a linear palate, with a deep core of perfectly ripe red berries and a touch of salinity that attests to its precision and maturity.