Iconic house shines in a low-yield, concentrated vintage
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2019 Louis Latour Pouilly-Vinzelles Les Champs 750 ml
- Curated by unrivaled experts
- Choose your delivery date
- Temperature controlled shipping options
- Get credited back if a wine fails to impress
Star from a “Rich and Concentrated” Vintage
The grower looked out over the green fields of Vinzelles, watching the white wisps from the smudge pots dissipate in the morning sun. The vineyard had frozen overnight. “Here we go again. Another short crop!”
Spring frost and hail—a huge headache for growers—often result in a golden harvest that thrills wine lovers in every way except one: there’s a LOT less to go around.
That is exactly what happened in Burgundy’s Mâconnais in 2019. Small yields—the lowest since 1981—combined with a warm growing season made for unusually generous Chardonnays. Wine Advocate called wines from the vintage “invariably rich and concentrated, but at their best they are also vibrant and incisive.”
Leave it to Louis Latour winemaker Jean Charles Thomas to nail 2019. The same care he gave to the house’s Grand Cru holdings in Corton-Charlemagne and Chevalier-Montrachet is on full display in the Louis Latour Pouilly-Vinzelles Les Champs, an opulent Chardonnay that mirrors the wines of the neighboring Pouilly-Fuissé appellation in every way—except price.
A key to this wine’s concentration is its 30-year-old vines, rooted deep in the vineyards of Pouilly-Vinzelles. Wedged between a millennium-old fortified castle and a 13th-century château, Vinzelles is a sliver of a village that Latour has been exploring since the days of Prohibition.
Most négociants are too busy rushing past Vinzelles to explore its 122 acres of southeast-facing Chardonnay vines, which spend their days soaking up the region’s terroir. Louis Latour therefore has prime access to the best fruit these vines have to offer. The house has been making wine from this special site for over 80 years, and 2019 is a terrific vintage for getting acquainted with this special corner of the Mâconnais.