Louis Latour Corton Grand Cru 2011
Bright medium ruby and medium rim, reveals aromas on the nose of liquorice, cherry and tar. With fuller body and strong varietal expressiveness, there are gentle wooded notes(10 to 12 months ageing in French oak barrels, 15% new; medium toast) at the finish. This wine drinks well now and will have 4 to 5 years to go. Decanting for even more complexity suggested. It is WE94 and JS92.
Corton represents tremendous value, and a Louis Latour Corton Grand Cru 2011 priced as if this is almost a give-away. The grapes selected to produce this wine are located on the hill of Corton in south-easterly facing parcels: Clos du Roi, Les Bressandes, Les Grèves, Les Perrières. Production is small; level is low at 35 hl/ha.
Vines are over 35 years old, they are managed in the traditional way by the Louis Latour team which carries out strict pruning in order to produce later harvests thus insuring a good degree of maturity in the grapes. This wine is made up of handpicked grapes selected from several different parcels of vines in order to guarantee consistent quality each year. It has a good ageing potential and for 2011 we expect the wine has 4 to 5 years to go.
Cost performance aside, this Corton Grand Cru label and its stardust will give you lots of 'face' as well, if you bring this friend out for a dinner with friends. Yes we are so vain. All of us need a Grand Cru wine and its label for dinners sometimes.
It’s a good enough wine, but as responsible tasters and professionals we need to handle our own expectations.
It is a Beaune (softer, less structure compared to d’Or Cru)
It is a Grand Cru, albeit a ‘second division’(and not all grapes are from the top-top Corton Charlemagne, such as Les Bressandes and Les Pougets).
The top quality one from Louis Latour is not this one, but Romaneee- St. Vivant and the Chambertin.
The fruit are sourced from the of Marl-based soil with a limestone from mix of Grand Cru patches including Les Brassards, Les Chaume, Les Pougets, Les Perrières and Les Grèves, and so it gives a diffused in stylistics.
Louis Latour is a negoce. It uses high temperature fermentation and pasterization, so higher alcohol at 14% even for a greener vintage and may be too clean. Pruning works better for better maturity of grapes for Louis Latour.
Keep calm-let the alcohol work a little before drinking it.
Like the 2006 we tasted one year ago, this 2011 grand Cru can stand 5 more years, even though it may not improve much in bottle.
