Vermilion

Louis Latour is synonymous with the great reds of Burgundy. It is the biggest, most well-known wine estate in Burgundy, producing 150 different types of wines annually, each in its distinctly heavy and elegant bottles. A total of 8.5 million bottles are produced each year, with one million of these consisting of Pinot Noir.

From father to son
Louis Latour believes in the strength of a family business, keeping it within the Latours since 1797. The winemaking has been passed from father to son for 11 generations, building on the stability of family tradition and adding a dash of innovation as each successor comes on board. Louis Latour is currently run by the 7th “Louis”, Louis-Fabrice Latour.

The Latours are a traditional “négociant-éléveur”, meaning that they purchase grapes and wines from suppliers to be aged, blended and bottled in their cellars. The result? An undefeated advantage of controlling each step in the lifecycle of their wines, from bud breaks to bottling. This allows for consistent quality from one vintage to the next, a quality apparent in each glass of Louis Latour that you savour.

Bigger and better
Today, Louis Latour owns a massive 115 acres spread across 21 appellations of the Côte d’Or, a majority of which are Premier and Grand Crus. The Latours pioneered the creation of single varietal vins de pays with the Ardèche & Grand Ardèche Chardonnays, Domaine de Valmoissine Pinot Noir and “Duet” Chardonnay-Viognier. The knowledge and experience of 200 years of making Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in Burgundy has given birth to its wines that boast a superb quality for the price you pay.

Reds that get people talking
There has been some ongoing controversy about Louis Latour’s red wines. The reds are all flash pasteurised by heating them to 70°C for three seconds before bottling. Critics have debated about whether this impacts quality – But the rising sales and established reputation of Louis Latour wines have spoken for themselves.The reds are noble and full, a resplendent ruby with a taste that combines grace and vigour. And when people start debating your winemaking techniques, you know that you have made your name in the winemaking world.

Responsible winemaking
Louis Latour has been on the tip of the tongue for a new generation of wine consumers who are keen to know if the glass (or bottle) they enjoy is derived from a responsible wine-making process. Latour was recently been accepted into the Forum de l’Agriculture Raisonnée Respectueuse de l’Environnement or FARRE, an organisation advocating environmental farming techniques. The Latours are working on developing alternative methods for disease and virus control that do away with insecticides, gradually introducing natural pest control methods. Latour also pride themselves in making their own oak barrels which enhances the wine’s flavour tremendously. The barrel-making process is reserved for the finest craftsmen, with each one requiring up to eight man-hours to make. So you know that every drop of wine you enjoy comes from a safe, eco-friendly environment.

The producer Giacomo Conterno is clearly one of the greatest names in all of Piedmonte. Each and every bottle that bears the Conterno label is a profound example of Piedmonth’s varietal and underlying terroir. For 45 years, until his death in 2004, Giovanni Conterno forged a reputation as the greatest of all Barolo producers for his famous reds.His legacy remains in his estate, Barolo Riserva Monfortino. The wines he made were the quintessence of “traditional” Barolo: rich, powerful, massively structured, and capable of long development in the bottle. Conterno left the world many great vintages of Barolo, including the 1964, 1971, 1978, 1985, 1990, 1996, 1999 and 2001. But his greatest legacy was to hand over his important work to his gifted son Roberto. A talented winemaker in his own right, Roberto not only shares hisfather’s brilliance but is equally determined to uphold his family’s traditions.

UPHOLDING TRADITION
Only the highest quality Nebbiolo grapes from Cascina Francia in Serralunga d’Alba are utilised for the estate. The densely planted vineyard features a southwest exposure and rests approximately 500 metres above sea level. The grapes derived from this site possess tannic depth, creating wines that possess ideal structure for the cellar.The Conterno style of Barolo is the most traditional, with a long maceration process followed by extended ageing in large, old oak casks for four to ten years prior to bottling. The regular Barolo is aged for four years before bottling, and the Monfortino used to be held in a single 4,000-5,000 litre botti for a minimum of ten years prior to its bottling. Today the Monfortino now stays in its same old oak botti for seven years before its bottling – the only modernist concession in the
entire vinification and ageing process!For many years, the Conternos made their Barolo from purchased grapes, produced by some of the best growers in the commune of Serralunga d’Alba and surrounding villages. In years of outstanding quality, a selection is made of the very best grapes in Cascina Francia, and these are then used in Monfortino wines. Fermentation of both bottlings is identical with the exception that the Monfortino witnesses no temperature control; no matter how high the fermentation temperatures may go, the Conternos prefer to go with the flow without intervention.

The wines are then racked into their respective botti for elevage, and the Barolo “Cascina Francia” destined for bottling after approximately four years in wood and the Monfortino at age seven. The result of this traditional process is wines of superior structure and ethereal qualities, exciting tannins and the longest-lived of all of Piedmonte’s Barolos.

Louis Latour

Giacomo Conterno – Barolo Riserva Monfortino