2019 Louis Latour Sous le Puits Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru Burgundy 750 ml

Puligny-Montrachet sits smack in the middle of Earth’s most precious four miles of white-wine terroir. And from the highest point in the region, Burgundy stalwart Louis Latour crafted the 2019 Sous le Puits Premier Cru, a wine with a magical balance of precision and breadth. 

Perched some 1,300 feet above sea level, and bordering Meursault, the Sous le Puits vineyard could be the sentinel of Puligny-Montrachet. Its hallowed terroir produces fruit-driven whites that display the flinty-mineral backbone that makes Puligny the gold standard for Chardonnay.

2019 blessed Louis Latour with some truly exceptional fruit. A chilly spring gave the vintage a sluggish start, but in June it took off like Usain Bolt. After a long, hot summer, growers brought in tiny clusters of immaculate berries. Quality was through the roof, inspiring Wine Advocate to call 2019 “a superb vintage.” 

Yet yields were some of the lowest in years. 2020 brought another tiny harvest, and early reports from 2021 show the same. Factor that diminishing supply with Latour’s report of skyrocketing demand across the globe—well, you don’t need a degree from LSE to predict extreme scarcity and soaring prices. 

A member of the 11th generation of the Latour family, Louis-Fabrice greeted us at his family home on our last visit.  The Latours have owned land in the Côte d’Or for more than three centuries, and they’ve been family-run the entire time. It’s a legacy few Burgundy producers can match.

Louis-Fabrice doled out pours for us of the Sous le Puits. “This has been my family’s classic style forever,” he told us. “Structured, rich, and balanced. That’s tradition. And we have to pay respect to it with every wine we make.”