2021 St Aubin, Cuvée Thomas, Vincent Latour, Burgundy

Domaine Vincent Latour

Founded in 1792 and known for most of its history as Domaine Latour-Labille, Domaine Vincent Latour is based in the very centre of Meursault. This family estate is now run by Vincent and his wife, Cécile. It covers nine hectares of enviable holdings, principally in Meursault but also in the neighbouring villages of Volnay, Pommard, Chassagne-Montrachet and St Aubin. The estate fruit is supplemented by some grape purchases equating to around three or four hectares.

Stylistically, Vincent’s white wines sit in a happy mid-point between the traditional, rich and broad-shouldered Meursault of old and the early picked, austere and reductive style that has become fashionable recently. He seeks sucrosity and ripeness while aiming to retain freshness and tension. As such, the wines tend to appeal to traditional and modern tastes alike.

The fruit is crushed before pressing, then the juice is lightly settled before fermentation in barrel. Vincent does not do any bâtonnage. The wines are aged on fine lees for their first year in barrel, before spending the second winter in tank or foudre to harmonise before bottling. Vincent favours larger oak barrels of around 500 litres as opposed to the traditional 228-litre pièce historically used in Burgundy. This gives the wines greater freshness and energy and reduces the impact of the wood on the wine. As such, oak plays a supporting role, and the wines have purity of fruit and a fresh, mineral structure.

Saint Aubin

Though tucked away in a side valley behind the two ‘Montrachet’ villages, Saint-Aubin is a great source of fine, steely white Burgundy and some attractively fruity reds. Production used to be about 50:50 between the two colours, but the whites have become the more sought-after and now represent two-thirds of the crop. There is a significant difference however between the best Premiers Crus – such as En Remilly – and the vineyards tucked away further up the valley.

• 80 hectares of village Saint-Aubin
• 156 hectares of Premier Cru vineyards (15 in all). The finest include En Remilly, Murgers des Dents de Chien, La Chatenière, Les Frionnes
• Recommended producer: Hubert Lamy

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is often seen as the king of white wine grapes and one of the most widely planted in the world It is suited to a wide variety of soils, though it excels in soils with a high limestone content as found in Champagne, Chablis, and the Côte D`Or.

Burgundy is Chardonnay's spiritual home and the best White Burgundies are dry, rich, honeyed wines with marvellous poise, elegance and balance. They are unquestionably the finest dry white wines in the world. Chardonnay plays a crucial role in the Champagne blend, providing structure and finesse, and is the sole grape in Blanc de Blancs.

It is quantitatively important in California and Australia, is widely planted in Chile and South Africa, and is the second most widely planted grape in New Zealand. In warm climates Chardonnay has a tendency to develop very high sugar levels during the final stages of ripening and this can occur at the expense of acidity. Late picking is a common problem and can result in blowsy and flabby wines that lack structure and definition.

Recently in the New World, we have seen a move towards more elegant, better- balanced and less oak-driven Chardonnays, and this is to be welcomed.