The Louis Latour Agencies tasting, which was held last week at Haberdashers’ Hall, didn’t disappoint, with its 2022 releases, Champagnes, wines and spirits. With the emphasis naturally on burgundy the event also had representatives from outside the region, as well as Western Australia, New Zealand, Italy and Chile.
The approach to tackling tastings like this one is to try examples representative of the region/country, and at different levels of hierarchy.
Some thoughts from the day:
Champagne Gosset Grand Blancs de Blanc Brut NV. The only Champagne in the range I tasted, it delivered delicate floral and citrus notes, with underlying biscuit and light toast and a long finish. Everything I look for in a Champagne, it was bright and refreshing.
Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru Clos Poirier. An unfiltered cask sample new release from 2022. A very full mouthfeel, unsurprisingly, with intense aromas of brioche and ripe fruit – quince, pear and yellow apple – and marzipan on the palate. I would love to try this again after a few years of bottle age.
Volnay Premier Cru En Chevret 2015 and the same bottle new release from 2022, tasted side by side. The 2015 was a stunner, with great finesse, meaty, earthy and classic red fruits in perfect harmony; the new release promises a rich and complex wine with liquorice and spicy notes on the palate.
Echezeaux Grand Cru 2016. Astonishing aromas, deep and spicy yet retaining a bright and lively freshness. More earth and spice than fruit at this stage, and it led me back to the 2015 Volnay for contrast. Not being in the market for wines at this end of the hierarchy, I continue to find great pleasure in the style of the Volnays above, which I would normally taste alongside Pommards from the same vintage for contrast.
Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde 2018 Vidal-Fleury. There was a lack of development on the palate, but this might have been down to the contrast with the Pinots tasted beforehand.
McHenry-Hohnen, Margaret River, Hazel’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2017. Unfined, unfiltered biodynamic delight! Definitely one for my cellar, given the value it offers. So satisfying, with its classic blackcurrant, cedar and savoury notes, and a long finish.
I skipped the Grand Champagne Cognacs with some reluctance as I was moving on to a Sassicaia tasting elsewhere later in the day.
To sum up: the wines sampled ranged from around £30 to over £500/bottle, tax and duty paid. But these were trade prices. No surprise that the burgundies were top of the tree on pricing. Pinot Noir, known as the ‘heartbreak grape’, will always be that for me, as the wines from its homeland become increasingly unaffordable. The 2022 vintage has produced high-quality wines and reasonably good yields, but pressure from other countries and regions, where value and consistency play their part in purchasing decisions, must be putting pressure on producers. The market’s continuing reliance on the scarcity aspect of burgundy remains its USP, for now at least.