You may have seen Louis Latour wines on store shelves or in restaurants. You might have even tasted some of them yourself. How much do you really know about Maison Louis Latour and its wines, though? Read on for three things you probably didn’t know about this historic family wine business.

3 things you didn’t know about Louis Latour

With such an extensive family history in the region, there are probably closer to 300 things you didn’t know about Louis Latour. Let’s keep it simple, and go with the three most important facts that make Louis Latour such a special company.

1. Louis Latour owns more Grand Cru vineyards in the Côte d’Or than anybody else

Louis Latour has got to be proud of this one. Grand Cru is one of those tricky terms in wine, mainly because it means different things from one region to another. In Burgundy, “Grand Cru” is the highest classification that a vineyard can have. Crucially, it is the vineyard land itself that is not classified and not its owner or the producer. This is in contrast with Bordeaux, where it’s the producers that are classified, regardless of whether they buy or sell part of their vineyard land.

The Côte d’Or (“the golden slope”) is the beating heart of the Burgundy region. It is subdivided into the Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune. Broadly speaking, the Côte de Nuits is home to Burgundy’s finest red wines, and the Côte de Beaune produces the best whites. Let’s summarise, then: Louis Latour owns more Grand Cru land – that is, the best vineyard sites – in the Côte d’Or, Burgundy’s finest region. That’s a big deal.

2. Louis Latour doesn’t just make Burgundy wine

Though the Louis Latour name will be forever entwined with the Côte d’Or and Burgundy in general, there’s more to it than that. Never content to stand still, Maison Louis Latour has developed vineyards and wine production outside its Burgundian stronghold.

Louis Latour was an early pioneer in the relatively unknown region of Ardèche, on the southern bank of the Rhône river. Ardéche occupies some rather unfashionable vineyard land between the far more prestigious regions of the Northern Rhône and Southern Rhône. Here, Louis Latour produces some world-class white wines, exporting its Burgundy know-how and expertise to cultivate the Chardonnay grape.

Elsewhere, you’ll find Louis Latour vineyards in Provence. Here, the Latour team takes advantage of its red wine expertise to produce excellent Pinot Noir.

3. Louis Latour is the only Burgundy producer to make its own barrels

Oak barrels are big business in the world of fine wine. French oak, in particular, is in such high demand that there is an entire industry dedicated to producing oak barrels in France. These companies are called cooperages, and they supply oak vessels to the producers of the best wines in the world.

Louis Latour has its own cooperage, which is unique in Burgundy. Here, they produce around 3,500 barrels per year. Of these, about half are used to age Louis Latour wines and the other half are sold to other wine producers.

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What is Échezeaux wine?

Échezeaux is a premium red wine made from the Pinot Noir grape in Burgundy, France. Its name comes from the the specific vineyard in which the grapes are grown, as is common in Burgundy wine.. At this price, we’re not talking just any vineyard, of course. Échezeaux is one of Burgundy’s prestigious Grand Cru vineyards, the highest classification for land in the region.

Grand Cru Burgundy is some of the finest wine in the entire world, and has long interested the sort of wealthy collectors that spend thousands on stocking their wine cellars.

Where is the Échezeaux vineyard?

Understanding Burgundy wine can be complicated at the best of times, so let’s keep it simple: The Échezeaux vineyard is located in the commune of Flagey-Échezeaux, itself located in the Côte de Nuits region. The Côte de Nuits is part of a larger region known as the Côte d’Or, but let’s not worry about that for now. In very basic geographic terms, the Côte de Nuits lies between Dijon and Beaune. It’s the heart of Burgundy’s red wine country.

What makes Échezeaux so special?

Burgundy is legendary (or notorious, depending on your viewpoint!) for its hyper-specific breakdown of vineyard land. The whole region is broken down into tiny, individual parcels, known as “climats”, in a concerted effort to identify the best growing sites. As a Grand Cru vineyard, Échezeaux has been officially recognised as worthy of the very top level. Considering the quality (and price) of Burgundy wines at lesser levels, this is impressive!

The vineyard itself has individual plots, known as lieux-dits, and ownership is divided between more than 80 proprietors. This is quite remarkable when you consider that the vineyard itself is only 37.6 hectares – in Bordeaux, that would be considered a relatively small vineyard for one single château owner. As a result, there really isn’t that much land – or fruit – to go around. The quantities made by any individual owner are tiny, and thus demand far outstrips supply.

To understand why Échezeaux is so special (and a relative bargain), let’s look at its finest wine – that from the mythical Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Échezeaux

Entire books have been written about the legendary Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. Pound for pound, it’s probably the world’s most famous wine producer, and regularly produces the world’s most expensive wine: Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée-Conti. That one’ll easily cost you around €15,000.

By comparison, the couple of thousand you’ll pay for Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Échezeaux doesn’t look so bad all of a sudden. You’ve got the same owner, same winemaker and the wines are aged in the same cellars.

If you’re still not sure: We understand. €2,500 is still a lot of money. We don’t blame you if you need a little more convincing. Let’s open up a bottle of Échezeaux wine and see what all the fuss is about.

Tasting Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Échezeaux 2001

The 2001 vintage in Burgundy was challenging, and even top producers had issues. Aubert de Villaine, co-owner and winemaker at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, managed to produce a range of stunning wines through the sort of attention to detail and meticulous grape sorting the domaine is known for.

• Sight:

  This Échezeaux has a pale ruby colour, indicative of both its age and the Pinot Noir grape variety from which it is produced.

• Smell:

  On the nose, there is delicious blackberry fruit and spice, with some earthy undertones. This wine is only now coming into its drinking window, and over the next few years the earthy aromas will begin to dominate.

• Taste:

  In the mouth, this is medium-bodied and silky. Dark fruit flavours dominate the palate, and the finish is incredibly long and satisfying.

Is it a bargain? Can a wine of this price truly be good value? It’s hard to say, but this is clearly an extraordinary wine. If it’s within your budget, treat yourself!

Buy Domaine de de la Romanée-Conti Échezeaux 2001.

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Not every wine lover will have the opportunity to taste one of these legendary wines, sure. These wines are expensive, sometimes costing hundreds or even thousands of euros for a single bottle. For the privileged few that do so on a regular basis, however, we have laid on a list of some truly special gourmet food pairings to accompany these outstanding wines.

Ribera del Duero

The Spanish region of Ribera del Duero is home to a number of super-premium, “icon” wineries. Dominio de Pingus and Bodegas Vega Sicilia are the region’s top estates, though there are many wine wineries operating in their midst too.

• Pingus 2011 is a 100% Tempranillo wine, elegant and complex and with a serious 15% alcohol content. Pair this with a rich foie gras or paté dish to really accentuate the depth of both wine and food.

• Vega Sicilia Único 1995 is Vega Sicilia’s Gran Reserva wine, heralded for its deep and complex aromatic character more than its body and structure. A beautiful, aged wine that you can pair with a wild game bird such as gently roasted quail or pheasant.

Bordeaux

Bordeaux is a big wine region that has a huge number of producers all vying for the attention of fine wine connoisseurs. Between the many different appellations and classification systems, it can be difficult to identify the very best of the best. Luckily, we don’t have to make such a definitive statement. Instead, we have picked out two very top estates, one each from the left and right bank of Bordeaux.

• Château Lafite Rothschild 2005 comes from perhaps Bordeaux’s best known wine estate and from the phenomenal 2005 vintage. Lafite is located in the Pauillac subregion, known for its full-bodied and powerful Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines. Nonetheless, there is a delicacy and balance here that makes it truly outstanding. Pair with a regional specialty such as Entrecôte steak with fries in red wine sauce.

• Château Pétrus 2003 comes from the legendary, tiny Pétrus estate in the tiny right bank subregion of Pomerol. With a majority of Merlot, this is a different beast to Lafite but no less stunning. Pair with a simply prepared filet mignon to really appreciate the unique complexity of the wine.

Burgundy

If there is one other region in the world that can give Bordeaux a run for its fine wine money, it’s Burgundy. Where Bordeaux makes big and powerful wines from its large estates and ominous, brooding châteaux, Burgundy is more about delicacy and nuance, and its estates tend to be microscopic by comparison. Indeed, the Burgundy vineyard is broken down into often tiny parcels known locally as “climats”, and any given vineyard may be divided into a great many individual climats each with its own proprietor. It’s a complicated, fascinating region, but if you remember just one producer, make it the world’s single most prestigious: Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.

• Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Grands Échézeaux 2001 is, relatively speaking, one of the estate’s more affordable bottlings. Burgundy makes the world’s finest Pinot Noir and the Grands Échézeaux vineyard site produces some of Burgundy’s very best. This aged example has beautiful mature aromas of earth and game meats. The delicate, earthy structure means the wine will pair beautifully with roasted lamb, or alternatively alongside a plate of mature French cheeses.

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