2015 Louis Latour Chassagne Montrachet "Chenevottes" 1er Cru 750 ml

The Greatest of Chardonnays

Great white Burgundy is the Helen of Troy, the face that launched 1000 ships. The principle reason why Chardonnay is grown all over the planet rests in the reputation of a small section of Burgundy’s Cote d’Or. These wines have been adored by kings and emperors from time immemorial and thousands of years of Burgundian expertise have culminated to exploit the bounty of the 2015 harvest—a vintage that Decanter hails as, “extraordinary.” All the critics agree that 2015 is the year to collect.

Louis Latour took full advantage, making spectacular wines across the board, but their Chassagne “Chenevottes” 1er Cru is one of the true gems of the Latour cellar. This vineyard lies about 500 feet from their lauded plots of Montrachet Grand Cru and constitutes an incredible value considering—if you can find any—the Montrachet label starts at $350 a bottle. Simply put, the Chenevottes is a real sleeper. The quality of the vineyard, its proximity to the cream of white Burgundy, and the brilliant nature of the vintage have conspired to produce a marriage of top-tier quality at what is now a bargain for great white Burgundy.

Of all the small, special places in the world to grow Chardonnay, Chassagne-Montrachet stands at the very pinnacle of quality, side-by-side with its close relations, Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault. These three villages make up the (very small) tenderloin of Burgundy’s Cote d’Or, and are simply the greatest places to grow Chardonnay on the planet. A certain intoxicating mixture of intense power with ethereal delicacy exists in the wines from Chassagne-Montrachet that’s rarely, if ever, replicated.

In Latour’s case, they’ve been working with these vineyards for over 220 years, and the Domaine is still a family business—Louis-Fabrice is the eleventh generation of Latour to head operations. While he’s snapped up properties like Simonnet-Febvre in Chablis and Henry Fessy in Beaujolais, the family’s 118 acres of Cote d’Or vines are still nearest and dearest to his heart.

Even within these storied holdings, the Chenevottes is a special vineyard. The deep limestone soils of Chenevottes are very similar to the Grand Cru vineyard of Montrachet, the holy grail of white Burgundy. If you’re standing in Chenevottes, the direct comparison is obvious; Montrachet sits just across the small road that leads to the village of St. Aubin. The vineyards are about 500 feet apart.

If you want to put one of the greatest expressions of Chassagne-Montrachet’s 2015s into your cellar, you’d be hard-pressed to do better in terms of quality and price than Latour’s Chassagne Chenevottes. $85 gets you a bottle that will go head-to-head with any Grand Cru. The wine will drink exceptionally out the gate, but you’re also sure to get many years of joy out of these bottles, if you can keep your hands off them!