($440, Louis Latour USA): Chevalier-Montrachet, a 19-acre vineyard, sits just above Montrachet on a more rocky terrain with poorer soil.  In my mind, it is home to Burgundy’s most exciting white wine, marrying the richness of Montrachet with a firmness reflected by the stony site.  Louis Latour and Louis Jadot jointly own a 2.6-acre plot there, called Les Demoiselles.  Both producers consistently make a stunning wine from this plot, but Latour’s 2012 rises above their usual exceptional high level.  Latour has captured the ripeness of the vintage without sacrificing minerality or softening the wine’s characteristic firm backbone.  It’s stony, smoky and rich simultaneously with extraordinary length and finesse.  The finish is seemingly endless.  Though tightly wound, it’s remarkably expressive now with time in the glass.  That said, put it in the cellar for a decade or two to see its real glory.
98 Michael Apstein Dec 9, 2014