2020 Louis Latour Clos Vougeot Grand Cru 750 ml

Louis Latour is the definition of a Wine Access member-favorite estate. Their centuries of experience in Burgundy have given the family unparalleled expertise in the cellar and unmatched access to prime vineyard land—and that includes substantial holdings in the prized Clos Vougeot, one of the grandest wines they make.

For us, passing through Burgundy without stopping at Louis Latour would be like visiting the Île de la Cité and ignoring Notre Dame. The family’s Château Corton-Grancey is the heart of the Maison. It’s where we’ve tasted, laughed, and celebrated with the Latour family—including the dearly missed Louis-Fabrice Latour—for more than two decades.

The Latours have a legacy few Burgundy producers can match, having owned land in the Côte d’Or for over three centuries and been family-run the entire time. That history has given them unmatched access to some of the region’s most coveted parcels—and their relationship with Clos Vougeot runs deep.

Called “Pinot Noir’s Grand Stage” by Wine Spectator, Clos Vougeot is one of Burgundy’s most storied Grand Cru vineyards. The Cistercian monks of Citeaux cultivated vines there as far back as 1110, building a winery with four oak presses and a cellar that could hold 2,000 barrels of wine. It’s rumored that bottles from the vineyard’s best plots were once gifted to kings and popes.

The 2020 growing season in Burgundy was exceptionally hot and dry—one of the earliest harvests on record. Yields across the Côte de Nuits were dramatically reduced as the heat concentrated juice into small, thick-skinned berries. The result, for those who managed the vintage with care, was Pinot Noir of profound depth and structure. The best wines from the Côte de Nuits show the kind of intensity that only comes from a season like this: ripe and commanding, yet retaining the freshness and mineral precision that defines great Burgundy.

Louis Latour’s Clos Vougeot is exactly that—concentrated and commanding, with ripe black fruit, finely woven tannins, and a long mineral finish that speaks to the limestone soils beneath these ancient vines. It is a serious wine from a serious vintage, and it will reward patience.