Louis Latour Echézeaux Grand Cru 2021

Louis Latour, a family house with more than two centuries of history in Burgundy, makes this Grand Cru from the Echézeaux vineyard, which lies on the gentle slopes beside Vosne-Romanée in the Côte de Nuits. The soils are the classic mix of limestone and clay, well drained and stony, which on this site gives Pinot Noir a particularly perfumed, silky expression alongside the depth of a Grand Cru. The cool continental climate and low yields hold the variety's acidity and aromatic detail. After fermentation the wine is aged in oak, a good part of it made in the house's own cooperage, where slow oxygen exchange rounds the tannins and adds gentle spice without masking the fruit. The result is an elegant, age-worthy red. It is bright ruby with garnet tints, and offers aromas of red cherry, wild strawberry and rose over a savoury, forest-floor earthiness. The palate is medium bodied and finely tannic, the limestone showing as freshness and length, finishing long and mineral. Serve at 16 degrees in a Burgundy glass, giving younger bottles a little air. It suits duck, game and beef fillet.