Louis Latour Agencies

Maison Louis Latour 2020 Vintage Report

14 January 2022

 

27^th March – Bud burst

19^th August – Harvest

 

2020 will go into the history books for its excellent quality, as well as being one of the earliest on record!

 

There were signs that it would be a vintage to remember after a particularly mild winter and an early bud burst that began on March 27th. Fine weather conditions continued into April, with average temperatures 3.6°C above the norm. It was a tense period as all of Burgundy was concerned about the risks of Spring frosts, which is now an annual danger but fortunately they did not prevail! From 14th May onwards, higher temperatures and minimal rainfall characterised the vintage and the precocity of the growing season continued right through until harvest time.

 

At Domaine Louis Latour we were well prepared and started harvesting on Wednesday 19th August, beginning ten intense days of picking, as we wanted to ensure the vineyards were all harvested before the weekend of 28/29th August, as rain was forecast. It was essential to pick before the rain! Harvesting began with younger vines in the vineyards of Beaune and Corton, followed by the old vines on the Corton hill, Chambertin and the famous Romanée-St-Vivant.

 

The Pinot Noir grapes were often small and thick skinned. Yields were somewhat varied and lower than expected due to the long dry summer, but cool nights have made the big difference when compared with the conditions of 2003.

 

The wines, despite low yields, display great balance between ripeness, phenolic maturity and acidity with beautiful deep colours from the thick skins. The vintage in red delivered everything except enough quantity which will make the wines even more special! As for the whites, the grapes were a beautiful golden colour, displaying tremendous acidity, with yields that were fortunately better than the reds. We began harvesting with the Corton-Charlemagne vineyards on the southern slope, around the cross before finishing on the 27th in the famous Chevalier-Montrachet. The quality will be very high, and we expect wines to have a beautiful richness balanced by a core of nicely weighted minerality.

 

Christophe Déola, Director, Domaine Louis Latour