TN: 1988 L.Latour Puligny, '04 Haut Rian

- D
- DaleW
  
  Contact options for registered users
posted
17 years ago

Tue, Aug 22, 2006 7:53 PM

We had celebrated David's 18th birthday last week at a restaurant, but Betsy's cousin and family were in town last night; Betsy and her sister threw a family party at our house, using the visit and the birthday as excuses. Betsy made smoked trout canapes to be followed by a pasta/shrimp/tarragon salad, fruit salad, & green beans with pistou, her sister made a caprese salad. My only contribution was setting up the croquet course and the tables on the patio.

In honor of the birthday I pulled out the only 1988 white I had, the

1988 Louis Latour Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru. Not especially high hopes- middling vintage where some wines are tired, negociant wine, a generic 1er. It was actually pleasant if not compelling - had a nice light golden color, a hint of nuttiness, sweet pear fruit. Light oxidative notes were in the background, not dominating at all. A bit lacking in intensity, and not much on the finish. But this was a casefiller at some low low price, certainly filled its duty as a symbol of the birthday. B

A bit better with the food was the 2004 Haut Rian (Bordeaux) - a serious QPR winner ($8), clean lemony fruit with hint of grass and a little gravelly mineral note. B

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

- H
- Hunt
  
  Contact options for registered users
Vote on answer
posted
17 years ago

Wed, Aug 23, 2006 3:52 AM

Dale,

Glad that the Louis Latour filled the bill. While not usually high on my list of Montrachets to cellar, L Latour is a good negociant, and seems to do good job with the wines/grapes. I am a bit surprised that this one held up, as well as it did, but glad, considering the occasion. Maybe I should have held a few of this house's wines a bit longer. I usually mark the L Latour as "drink now," unless I hit a special bottle that seems to indicate something "more."

As always, thanks for the TN's.

Hunt

PS Happy Birthday to David!!!!

- C
- cwdjrxyz
  
  Contact options for registered users
Vote on answer
posted
17 years ago

Wed, Aug 23, 2006 5:22 AM

Louis Latour makes a huge range of wines. While others often do better with top name reds, some of their whites can be near the top of the heap some years. Their best wine, on the average, likely is their domain Corton Charlemagne. This wine can easily go 10, 20, or sometimes more years, and in fact often does not show good when young. Their Le Montrachet, in the past at least, came from someone else. The 1973 was not the fullest year for Montrachet in general, but the Latour example was still holding well at 25 years. It was not a Parker bombshell, but it had very good balance that allowed it to age well.