2018 Louis Latour Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 750 ml

Decanter described 2018 Burgundy as “a vintage to rival the mythical 1947,” and this golden Corton-Charlemagne—which landed at #6 in Wine Spectator’s Top 100—shows what a stellar vintage and one of the world’s great Chardonnay terroirs can produce. 

For years, Louis Latour achieved an opulent Corton-Charlemagne style by being one of the last producers to harvest. But because of the warmer vintages that Burgundy now experiences, Latour president Louis-Fabrice Latour opts to pick earlier to achieve an ideal balance of ripeness and tension—and he hit the bullseye in 2018. 

The famed Grand Cru’s Chardonnay vines thrived in the near-perfect 2018 season, which Decanter called “one of the greatest ever vintages” in Burgundy. The 30-year-old vines planted in the stony limestone soils produced a near-tropical expression, and after 8–10 months in French oak, the result is a creamy, energetic expression of one of the great Grands Crus in Burgundy—a bottle that will command the rapt attention of any table it graces, and one that belongs in the cellar of every white-wine lover seeking a sublime Burgundy experience. 

This is a Grand Cru in full command of both its elegance and full-bodied power, born in a landmark—but low-yielding—Burgundy vintage, so this is one for the ages.