At our Annual Wine & Cognac Tasting we held a masterclass led by Bruno Pepin, Commercial Director for Maison Louis Latour. The masterclass was entitled ‘Maison Louis Latour: 100 Years Breaking Winemaking Boundaries’. Below is a write up of the masterclass focussing on the six wines that exemplify the innovation shown by the company over the last 100 years. During the masterclass we tasted Grand Ardeche, Pouilly Fuisse, Corton Charlemagne, Les Pierres Dorées Pinot Noir, Marsannay and Château Corton Grancey.
Corton-Charlemagne - 1890
The third generation of Latour, named Louis, after acquiring the winery and Domaine Corton Grancey took out the phylloxera damaged vines of Aligoté and Gamay and decided to replant with Chardonnay on American rootstocks. These rootstocks were resistant to phylloxera and helped ensure the survival of the region. These Chardonnay vines created the first Corton-Charlemagne wines. Maison Latour are the biggest owner of this appellation, owning nearly 12 hectares of vineyard in the best location and are proud to be one of top producers in this appellation.
Château Corton Grancey - 1891
For Château Corton Grancey they decided to take an approach more akin to Bordeaux, blending. In Burgundy producers generally have taken a single vineyard approach, certainly for premier and grand cru wines. Maison Latour make single vineyard wines as well but they are the only producer allowed to make Château Corton Grancey. It is a blend of four vineyards, Les Bressandes, Les Perrières, Les Grèves and Clos du Roi. The blend varies depending on the vintage and this is always seen as the reflection of Louis Latour. The name is taken from the previous owners of the Château - Grancey.
Pouilly-Fuisse - 1920s & 1930s
The origin of the Pouilly-Fuisse project was in 1926. At the time there were no appellations for wine in France but Maison Latour, seeing a need for quality wine at a lower price point to traditional Côte d’Or village wine like Meursault or Puligny-Montrachet decided to invest slightly further south. Once prohibition ended in 1933 Maison Latour exported and promoted this wine in the US, then called Grand Pouilly Latour, and helped lead the development and creation of this appellation.
Grand Ardeche - 1970s
The first big move outside the Côte d’Or came from Louis-Fabrice’s father, Louis Latour. The price of grapes and land in Burgundy were increasing so Louis Latour was looking to grow Chardonnay somewhere else. Ardeche is in the northern part of the Rhône Valley so it was mainly planted with red grapes but also a little Viognier. Maison Latour invested in a winery and contracted growers to plant Chardonnay but based on certain quality and yield conditions. Yields are kept at around 40 hl/ha and now Maison Latour has 320 hectares under contract. This wine first started as Chardonnay de l’Ardeche but in the 1990’s the US market was asking for an oaked version of the wine so Grand Ardeche was born. Generally Louis Latour does not change its style depending on the fashion however, Grand Ardeche is a more commercial wine and reflects the mood of the consumer. Roughly 25-35% of Ardeche production goes into Grand Ardeche and specific plots have been identified as the best for ageing in barrel.
Marsannay - 1980s
In the late 1980’s Louis Latour were looking for a commercially viable red of which there was both quantity and quality. There used to be a big jump between Bourgogne Pinot Noir and Gevrey-Chambertin but in 1987 the Marsannay appellation was created. The wines were considered acidic and were generally sold under Côtes de Nuits or Bourgogne label. Maison Latour started working closely with vine growers in the area, supporting them and became a major supporter of the appellation in export markets. It was unusual to see a red at this price point from Côtes de Nuits, the next jump would be Gevrey-Chambertin and in fact the bedrock of Marsannay is very similar to the one of Gevrey-Chambertin, its big brother in many respects.
Les Pierres Dorées Pinot Noir - 2010
One of the major challenges of producing wine in Burgundy is producing good quality entry level Pinot Noir. Bourgogne Pinot Noir is one of the most challenging wines made every year because it is a wine where consumers want consistency but the vintage variations are usually quite marked. Louis-Fabrice started to look for an area to grow a consistent Pinot Noir in Burgundy. First he experimented in Chenas where they planted 3 hectares however, Pinot Noir does not like granitic soil and this is the bedrock of the crus. Beaujolais is considered the lowest level in the region because the soil is not granitic and in fact has more limestone – the soil is more similar to that of the Côte d’Or. Armed with this information Maison Latour bought 20 hectares in the south of Beaujolais that was mostly planted with Gamay. This was then planted with Pinot Noir. The project really took off in 2010 but 2015 is the first vintage of Les Pierres Dorées Pinot Noir. Production is looking to slowly expand, the first vintage is only in 12 markets. The wine is riper than Bourgogne Pinot Noir but also has more acidity.
Company History
Louis Latour has been innovative from early in the company’s history. Louis Latour are the proud owners of an historic winery Cuverie Corton Grancey. The winery is built over 5 levels into the hill, allowing the entire winemaking process to carried out by gravity, this process continues to this day. The design was presented at the World Exhibition in Paris 1900 as the first purpose built winery in France using gravity. A further innovation in the winery came in 1955 when a pneumatic press was installed, these were not found in the Côte d’Or more generally until the 1970’s. Maison Latour own 25 hectares on the hill of Corton and are the largest Grand Cru owner.
Louis-Fabrice sums up the values behind the company perfectly in this statement - “We have always been traditional while innovating at the same time, we usually adopt new techniques very early when it represents a progress to quality. No revolution but evolution, with two aims in mind: precision and consistency.” Louis-Fabrice Latour