($24, Louis Latour, USA):  The Mâconnais, a region of Burgundy that lies south of the famed and expensive Côte d’Or, is an unexplored treasure-trove of Chardonnay-based wines.  The base of the pedigree pyramid are wines labeled Mâcon-Villages, which means they came from grapes grown anywhere throughout the region.  If, however, the label reads Mâcon-xyz, or in this case, Mâcon-Lugny, the grapes came from a more delineated area, namely that specific village.  Theoretically, the smaller the area from which the grapes came, the better the wine.  At the top of the Mâconnais pyramid sits the more well-known appellations of St. Véran and Pouilly-Fuissé.  Latour’s firm style fits the warm and ripe 2020 perfectly, as this wine shows.  It has remarkably good density and weight for a wine from Mâcon, but it’s not heavy or ponderous because of riveting acidity that imparts an uplifting character.  Think of it as your go-to white this summer.
90 Michael Apstein Mar 28, 2023