Louis Latour Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru Cailleret

Louis Latour Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru Cailleret is a white wine made from vineyards in the south of the Côte de Beaune. Chassagne-Montrachet is located just to the south of Puligny-Montrachet.

The Latour family have long been established in Burgundy’s wine trade. They began as vinegrowers in the village of Aloxe-Corton as early as 1768 and went on to establish today’s business, Maison Louis Latour, in 1797. Today they are one of the region’s most famous names creating wines from their own 50 hectare domaine in the Côte d’Or and from grapes and wines purchased through the negociant arm of the business.

As mentioned above, Chassagne Montrachet is situated in the south of the Côte de Beaune and is one of the 5 villages of the prestigious Côte de Blancs. The vineyards face east and south-east and the white Premier Cru soils are mainly made of brown clay and limestone.There 70 hectares of 1er Cru vineyards in Chassagne Montrachet and the Morgeot vineyard is one of the top two or three 1er Crus (climats) in the village. Chassagne Montrachet offers great value due to their relatively unfashionable image when compared with their direct neighbours at Meursault and Puligny-Montrachet. The wines are fat and exotically fruity. Morgeot is a perfect example of these wines and has a warm, tropical appeal that is hard to rival. A fresh, chewy richness precedes an opulent finish.

The grapes for Louis Latour Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru Cailleret  are sourced from vines with an average age of 30 years planted on clay and limestone soils. Cailleret is widely believed to be one of Chassagne-Montrachet’s best Premier Cru vineyards. It benefits from its hillside location and excellent exposure, which allows its grapes to gain perfect maturity, and its rocky soils with lots of stones. The grapes are harvested by hand and the wine undergoes a traditional vinification in oak barrels with complete malolactic fermentation. The wine is matured in French oak barrels for 8 to 10 months, 50% of which are new, prior to bottling. The barrels are from Louis Latour’s own cooperage and are French oak, medium toasted.

The name Cailleret comes from the word Caille meaning stones.