Louis Latour Mercurey Cote Chalonnaise Rouge

Founded in 1797 by Jean Latour — a third-generation winegrower whose family had tended Burgundian vines since 1731 — Maison Louis Latour built its négociant reach outward from Aloxe-Corton to span every major Burgundy appellation, including the limestone-and-clay rolling hills of the Côte Chalonnaise. Mercurey, the appellation's most serious red cru, sits on Jurassic limestone soils interlaced with clay and marl, producing Pinot Noir with more structural grip and darker fruit character than the lighter sandy terroirs to its south.

In the cellar, the house protocol applies: 100% hand-harvested, fully destemmed Pinot Noir fermented in large open wooden vats with manual pigeage over approximately 14 days, then aged in French oak at 15–35% new, medium toast, for 10–12 months — barrels coopered in-house from air-dried French oak. The wine then undergoes the house's openly acknowledged and category-transgressive step: flash pasteurisation at approximately 72°C for 2–3 seconds before bottling, eliminating the need for fining entirely as the wine falls clear naturally over 2–3 months.

That pasteurisation practice — unique among major Burgundy négociants and a persistent point of critical debate — is what separates every Latour red from its peers at this price point. The 2020 vintage in Burgundy delivered concentrated, ripe fruit with good natural structure, translating in the Côte Chalonnaise to dark cherry, iron-tinged earth, and firm but resolved tannins; drink now through 2027.