2008 Louis Latour Criots-Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru Burgundy 750 ml

Great relationships foster great rewards: When these untouched bottles of 2008 Louis Latour Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru first see the light of day, they will be en route to Wine Access clients. From a tiny Grand Cru parcel in Chassagne-Montrachet, this liquid gold has been deepening in color and aroma for a decade, revealing stunning depth and complexity from intense aromas of vanilla, almond paste, coconut, and honey, to a vibrant core of candied citrus peel, honeycomb and white florals with terrific saline-like mineral underpinnings. Still packed with energy, it’s a “drink now” gem that will develop beautifully for decades more. Vinous rated the vintage 94 points, praising the “surprising richness” for white Burgundies, and suggesting it “best for purists.” 

It’s hard not to wax poetic about great white Burgundy. At a recent tasting with our friends from Louis Latour, we caught ourselves gushing about one of their rivals’ 2005 Chassagne. They just laughed it off.

The next time they were in town after we tasted through the lineup, Louis-Fabrice Latour reached into his bag and wordlessly placed a bottle on the table—Latour’s 2008 Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet—as if to say “Impressed by mere Chassagne? How about this?”

On an eastern exposure at almost 780 feet in elevation, the Criots parcel—less than 4 acres producing fewer than a thousand cases annually—is on hallowed chalk and gravel just below the storied Grand Crus of Montrachet and Chevalier-Montrachet. The 2008 vintage was dubbed a “best for purists,” by Vinous, which produced beautifully balanced wines, bestowed with a “surprising richness” with firm vibrancy on Burgundy’s white wines—and rings clear for this 2008 Louis Latour.

The honey and almond notes are beginning to peek through, and the color has goldened, but this gorgeous wine has new-release verve. Lucky for us, a tiny cache will find its way above ground and into the cellars of Wine Access clients. This is a sublime example of Grand Cru richness and longevity, the kind that will delight whether served with tonight’s dinner or in 20 years.