Louis Latour Corton Charlemagne 2018 (750ML)

97 JS / 95 WS / 94 DE / 91-93 BH

#6 Wine Spectator Top 100 2021

Open and aromatic with honeysuckle flowers, dried apples and mangoes, as well as white peaches and stone. Full-bodied, this grows slowly on the palate with an intense, powerful finish. Lots of cream, cooked apples, lemons and light oak at the very end. Tight and right. Try after 2023. - James Suckling

Fresh and fruity, with aromas and flavors of lemon, pear, white flowers and stone, showing great tension and an underlying mineral component that gives this energy and length. The lemon theme continues on the lingering aftertaste, along with butter and pastry accents. Best from 2022 through 2029. 1,200 cases imported. - Bruce Sanderson, Wine Spectator

With nearly 25 acres of estate vines in Burgundy’s Corton-Charlemagne—almost one-third of the appellation—Louis Latour is an important producer of this grand cru Chardonnay, with its version being the one Americans are most likely to find in restaurants and at retail shops. The vines average 30 years of age. Harvested by hand, the grapes are pressed and fermented in 100 percent new French oak barrels. The wine ages eight to 10 months before racking, assembling and bottling. 2018 was a ripe vintage; the timing of the harvest was crucial to strike the right balance. Latour’s Corton-Charlemagne shows great tension and an underlying mineral component that lends energy and length. - Wine Spectator

Though the vintage was warm and yields were high - not, one would think, a good combination for a vibrant white wine - the 2018 Corton-Charlemagne is just that. It is yet another example how wine made from great terroirs in the hands of talented producers can turn out fine even under adverse conditions. Forward and rich, though with surprisingly good acidity, it delivers hints of luxuriousness that will develop and become more prominent with proper cellaring. Its forwardness suggests it will be enjoyable sooner than my usual decade rule. That said, it reminds me of the 1985, which is still going strong. Drinking Window 2026 - 2036 - Michael Apstein, Decanter

Here the beautifully layered nose is at once riper and more complex but also more restrained with its reasonably fresh aromas of apple, spear, spice, herbal tea and soft oak wisps. There is outstanding volume to the equally ripe and powerful flavors that exhibit a lovely underlying tension on the impressively persistent and attractively stony finish where the only nit is hint of warmth. - Allen Meadows, Burghound