2010 Louis Latour Corton Clos Du Roi Grand Cru 750 ml

2010 Grand Cru Burgundy: When The Classicists Won Out

Rarely have the growers of Burgundy’s Côte d’Or enjoyed two consecutive vintages as extraordinary as 2009 and 2010. The 2009s are lush and ripe, a vintage where power and concentration trumped acid backbone, making for almost New World Pinot Noirs. But in 2010 — now almost universally considered the better of the two vintages — the classicists won out, with a cool, even growing season that offered plenty of hang time, making for the most precise and complex red Burgundies since 1990.

In July of 2015, we returned to Château Corton Grancey and took seats at the tasting table beside proprietor Louis-Fabrice Latour and his regisseur, Boris Champy. The morning lineup featured four Grand Cru Cortons from each of the 2009 and 2010 vintages: Corton, Corton Grancey, Corton Clos du Roi, and Corton Clos de la Vigne au Saint.

The 2009 Corton Grancey was the most New World of the bunch, an exceedingly rich, linear Grand Cru, true to the hedonistic makeup of the vintage. The 2009 Corton was the most complete of the 2009s, marrying plush concentration with finer structure and length — perhaps even outpointing its 2010 counterpart.

The 2010 Clos de la Vigne was arguably the most elegant of the day, showing great refinement, length, and persistence. But if we had to pick just one wine to not only bring to lunch at Ma Cuisine in Beaune, but also to lay down in our cellars, all four of us agreed on the stupendous 2010 Corton Clos du Roi.

In that miracle growing season, the Pinot Noir vines in this tiny walled-in parcel high above the variegated tile roofs of Aloxe-Corton took full advantage of a spectacular Indian summer. Yields were small, barely 2 tons per acre. At harvest, berries were tiny, loaded with sugar (unlike 2009), without sacrificing a gram of acidity. Champy, who has been crafting Grand Cru Cortons at Latour for years, was insistent: The 2010 Corton Clos du Roi is one of the half-dozen finest Grand Cru reds of his storied career.

The 2010 Louis Latour Corton Clos du Roi Grand Cru is brilliant garnet-ruby to the rim. Infused with a mouthwatering mix of pureed raspberry and red cherry preserves, the aromas are bright, high-toned, piercing, and decidedly primary. Explosive and expansive on the attack, packed with dark red-fruit preserves, cherry pit, and a splash of kirsch, finishing brilliantly, showing off the extraordinary limestone cut that’s so particular to Aloxe-Corton’s Grand Cru slopes. Drink now (if you’re a fool) for its lush, primary-fruit opulence, or do as regisseur Boris Champy suggests and lay this monumental Grand Cru down until sometime in the mid-2020s!

93 points from Wine Spectator. $125 on release. Just $88 today — the BEST price in America — here on WineAccess. Shipping included on 3 bottles or more.