Winemaker Notes
#90 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2024
Dark ruby in color, the 2022 Château Corton Grancey reveals a spicy nose with notes of blackberry, pepper and undergrowth. The palate is full and suave, with aromas of licorice, coffee and cherry. The finish is beautifully fresh and long-lasting.
Professional Ratings
-
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
The 2022 Louis Latour Château Corton Grancey—the crown jewel of the Louis Latour portfolio—never fails to command attention. It reveals a layered tapestry of black fruits, dried earth, wild herbs, ripe strawberries, and piquant spice. Set the table with Beef Wellington, and finish with a plate of Comté or aged Gruyère for a truly regal pairing. (Tasted: June 27, 2025, San Rafael, CA)
-
James Suckling
Rich and fleshy with a dark core of interwoven fine tannins and stony minerality. Fantastic concentration and yet so suave in spite of all the power. Very long, savory finish with delicate nuances of licorice and bitter chocolate at the dark and dangerous finish. A cuvee of wines from several of the best sections of the hill.
-
Wine Spectator
Rich and spicy, this red features ample cherry, raspberry, rose hip and stony mineral flavors. Silky, yet with a fine underpinning of refined tannins, ending in a resonant aftertaste. The terrific harmony, structure and length signal its future potential.
Maison Louis Latour is one of the most highly-respected négociant-éléveurs in Burgundy. Maison Louis Latour is the producer of some of the finest Burgundian wines but has also pioneered the production of fine wines from outside Burgundy's confines. These wines from the Ardèche and the Côteaux de Verdon are slowly gaining esteem for their unmatchable quality outside Burgundy.
All the grapes from the vineyards owned by the Latour family are vinified and aged in the attractive cuverie of Chateau Corton Grancey in Aloxe-Corton. The winery was the first purpose-built cuverie in France and remains the oldest still functioning. A unique railway system with elevators allows the entire wine-making process to be achieved by the use of gravity. This eliminates the threat of oxidation from unnecessary pumping of the must. Since 1985, Louis Latour has been selling the wines of its own vineyards under the name Domaine Louis Latour.
Louis Latour has been a leader in environmentally responsible winemaking for over 15 years. Louis Latour has had ISO 14001 accreditation for Environmental Management Systems since 2003 and has been part of the European association FARRE since 1998- a group of like-minded companies who seek to develop and promote sustainable methods of agriculture.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Prevailing over the charming village of Aloxe, the hill of Corton actually commands the entire appellation. Corton is the only Grand Cru for Pinot Noir in the entire Côte de Beaune. Its Grand Crus red wines can be described simply as “Corton” or Corton hyphenated with other names. These vineyards cover the southeast face of the hill of Corton where soils are rich in red chalk, clay and marl.
Dense and austere when young, the best Corton Pinot Noir will peak in complexity and flavor after about a decade, offering some of the best rewards in cellaring among Côte de Beaune reds. Pommard and Volnay offer similar potential.
The great whites of the village are made within Corton-Charlemagne, a cooler, narrow band of vineyards at the top of the hill that descends west towards the village of Pernand-Vergelesses. Here the thin and white stony soils produce Chardonnay of exceptional character, power and finesse. A minimum of five years in bottle is suggested but some can be amazing long after. Fully half of Aloxe-Corton is considered Grand Cru.