Vintage Producer Product Name Notes Source Score Sell Sheet Updated
2016 Latour Giraud Mersault 1er Cru Genevrieres (the yield here was just 30 hectoliters per hectare, according to Latour): Rather pale, bright yellow. Alluring scents of peach, lemon, mandarin orange and smoky oak, plus a whiff of almond flower. Very suave on entry, then drier and more closed in the middle palate than the Charmes, but with excellent citrus lift to relieve its salinity. Laid-back, concentrated wine with a fine-grained texture and excellent verve. Really resounds on the salty finish. There's a lot more to come here. Vinous 92+ 2019-02-19
2016 Latour Giraud Meursault 1er Cru Perrieres (Latour told me this wine and most of his other premier crus weigh in at about 13.5% alcohol and carry about 4.5 grams per liter of acidity, which he attributes largely to the low-yielding old vines): Bright lemon-yellow. Lemon zest and crushed stone on the nose, plus a piquant note of orange. Conveys a brighter, rockier mineral aspect than the Charmes ("another form of minerality," says Latour), along with more tension, and a note of pineapple that remains this side of exotic. This lovely high-pitched, concentrated wine is shockingly tastable now, yet it also possesses the force of the vintage's better examples. Latour noted that this wine finished its malolactic fermentation first among his '16s and that he gave it a slightly stronger fining with casein than the rest. Vinous 93 2019-02-19
2016 Latour Giraud Puligny Montrachet 1er cru Champs Canet Bright yellow. Sexy, expressive aromas of lemon oil, fresh apricot, hazelnut and oak. Suave and broad on entry, conveying a touch of sweetness and a fine-grained texture to its flavors of lemon, white peach and spices, then turns a bit leaner but more focused and citrussy on the back half. Doesn't offer the body or the palate presence of the estate's top Meursault crus (there was no frost effect here and the yield was a healthy 40 hectoliters per hectare) but this is still rather youthfully taut. Finishes dry, classic and long. I like the combination of stone and citrus fruits and underlying saline minerality. Vinous 92 2019-02-19
2016 Latour Giraud Meursault 'Les Narvaux' (Jean-Pierre Latour used no more than 25% new oak for his 2016 white wines): Bright light yellow. Ripe peach and fresh apricot on the nose, along with menthol and soil tones. A step up in texture from the Cuvée Charles Maxime, as the yield here was just 30 hectoliters per hectare. Smoother and deeper but also in a distinctly saline style, this wine finishes with more refinement and length. Vinous 90 2019-02-19
2017 Latour Giraud Mersault 1er Cru Genevrieres Cuvee des Pierres Latour has three barrels of this juice, one new, one once-used and one twice-used): Pale, bright yellow. Very pure, minerally aromas of underripe pineapple, soft citrus fruits, white pepper, hazelnut, wild herbs and menthol. Thick, concentrated and very deep, conveying a powerful impression of solidity. The wine's pronounced soft citrus fruit sweetness is counterpointed by salty minerality. Most impressive today on the slowly mounting, savory finish, which boasts terrific building energy. This sappy, utterly seamless wine would be unctuous were it not for its 4.5 g/l acidity, the highest among these 2017s. Owing to the advanced age of these vines and to heat during the flowering, the yield here was just 20 hectoliters per hectare, according to Latour, who added that this wine "gives the real image of the vintage." I disagree, as there are very few 2017 premier crus at the quality level of this one. Vinous 93-95 2019-02-18
2017 Latour Giraud Mersault 1er Cru Charmes (aging in 25% new oak): Pale-medium yellow. Subtly perfumed nose combines lemon drop, nectarine, mirabelle and hazelnut. Strong and sappy but smooth as well, showing lovely fruit intensity and depth. A firm mineral underpinning contributes to the wine's impression of precision and youthful linearity, and its touch of sweetness is perfectly buffered by sound acidity. A very refined, fine-grained, promising Charmes with noteworthy energy and rising length. The crop level here was a reasonable 39 hectoliters per hectare, according to Jean-Pierre Latour. Vinous 91-94 2019-02-18
2017 Latour Giraud Mersault 1er Cru Genevrieres (the crop level was just 35 hectoliters per hectare owing to losses during the flowering): Bright, light yellow with a green tinge. Captivating aromas of lemon, lime and powdered stone, with riper peach and apricot scents emerging with air. In a gentle, distinctly creamy style and balanced from the start, already conveying sexy sweetness to its fruit-driven flavors of stone fruits and lime flower. Finishes very smooth and long. One feels the evidence of the late-August heat; today this wine seems lower in acidity than the Charmes but it's fat and ripe and should be a popular style. This fruit bomb should benefit from the firming effect of a second winter in barrel. Vinous 91-93 2019-02-18
2017 Latour Giraud Meursault 1er Cru Perrieres (one of the three barrels was new, the other two from 2015): Bright, light yellow with a green tinge. Ripe but reticent nose hints at pineapple, dusty rock and marzipan (one of the three barrels is going through an oxidative phase). Sappy, thick and palate-saturating, with its mineral density leavening this very rich wine's sweetness of fruit. Not a creamy style but finishes with impressive building length, excellent savory grip and an absence of hard edges. Latour describes this wine as "not too large," noting that he picked the fruit early, on August 28 or 29. Vinous 91-93 2019-02-18
2017 Latour Giraud Puligny Montrachet 1er cru Champs Canet (25% new oak): Bright, light yellow. Peach, nut oils and hazelnut on the nose; also conveying a hint of tiredness from a barrel in an oxidative phase. Broad on entry, then rich, thick and concentrated but quite dry in the middle palate. Turns tighter, more linear and more classic on the back end, finishing with resounding flavors of stone fruits, citrus peel and stony minerality. The crop level was 40 hectoliters per hectare, according to Latour. Vinous 91-93 2019-02-18
2017 Latour Giraud Meursault 1er Cru Boucheres Slightly hazy pale yellow. Fresh on the nose but reticent and in need of air, hinting at fresh apricot, spices and menthol. Savory, nicely concentrated wine with an impression of lowish acidity but strong chewy soil tones to its slightly exotic peachy fruit salad flavors. Finishes surprisingly tangy and long, with good mineral grip. Appears to be very successful for this cuvée. Vinous 90-92 2019-02-18