Latour-Giraud Meursault Les Charmes 1er Cru 2019

- 92-94 Punkte, BURGHOUND, Allen Meadows: „Reduction dominates the nose but there is a lovely sense of freshness and verve to the notably finer and more precise if less dense and powerful flavors that flash evident minerality on the bitter lemon suffused finish. This impressively persistent effort is excellent and a wine that should amply repay a decade plus of cellaring. Drink: 2026+“

Producer note: Jean-Pierre Latour described the 2019 growing season as containing "lots of potential for missteps as Mother Nature was difficult. The flowering was very difficult and especially so in the premier cru vineyards and then the intense heat and drought also contributed to a small crop load. In some ways this was serendipitous because the hydric stress caused by the heat and drought was such that if we had had a normal crop load, the fruit would have never adequately ripened. We picked from the 5th of September and brought in clean and ripe but importantly, not over ripe fruit that averaged between 13.5 and 14% in terms of potential alcohols. Yields though were another matter as the 1ers topped out at 25 hl/ha and the villages wines gave us no more than 30 hl/ha. As to the wines, at this early stage they are less aromatic than were the 2018s at the same point in their development with excellent structure which should enable them to age gracefully for many years. Another aspect that is important is that the wines are definitely ripe, yet you don't really sense the sun as they're so well-balanced. Overall, I would put the 2019s on the same qualitative level as the 2017s, which is a compliment in my book." I completely agree with Latour as I was definitely impressed with the quality I found. (Atherton Wine Imports, www.awiwine.com, CA, Chemin des Vins, www.chemindesvins.com, MA, both USA; Bibendum Wine Ltd., www.bibendum-wine.co.uk, Thorman Hunt & Co., www.thormanhunt.co.uk and Atlas Fine Wines, www.atlasfinewines.com, all UK).