Louis Latour Givry, Côte Chalonnaise

Description

Louis Latour Givry is a red burgundy from the Côte Chalonnaise wine growing area of Burgundy.

The Latour family have long been established in Burgundy’s wine trade. They began as vine growers in the village of Aloxe-Corton as early as 1768 and went on to establish today’s business, Maison Louis Latour in 1797. Today they are one of the region’s most famous names creating wines from their own 50 hectare domaine in the Côte d’Or and from grapes and wines purchased through the negociant arm of the business. The company has been in family ownership for 11 generations and is now led by the 7th Louis Latour. He is ably supported by Chief winemaker Jean Charles Thomas, and Denis Fetzmann and Boris Champy who run the Domaine.

The village of Givry gives its name to one of the 5 appellations of the Côte Chalonnaise, the other four are Bouzeron, Rully, Mercurey and Montagny. The region had long been recognised as a good wine-growing area but it wasn’t until 1946 that Givry was elevated to AOC status in recognition of the consistent quality of its wines. Red wines represent 80% of the appellation. They are fruit-forward and well-structured with good finesse and often compared favourably to the wines of Volnay.

The grapes for the Louis Latour Givry are hand harvested from vineyards with an average vine age of 25 years located on iron based clay marl soils. The grapes undergo a traditional fermentation in temperature controlled stainless steel vats followed by malolactic fermentation. The wine is rested for 10 to 12 months in stainless steel vats prior to bottling.

Louis Latour Givry from Maison Louis Latour is a superb example of it’s type. As Robert Parker put it, “the best negociant offering Givry is Maison Louis Latour, whose wine exhibits an attractive earthy, spicy character”.