Maison Louis Latour

The Latour family history traces to 1731 when Denis Latour (a cooper by profession) purchased the first family vines in the Côte de Beaune. His son Jean Latour moved to Aloxe-Corton in 1768 and established his own cooperage; Jean progressively acquired vineyard parcels through the late eighteenth century including Aloxe-Corton Les Chaillots, Corton Grèves, and Corton Bressandes. The Maison was formally established in 1797 with offices at 18 Rue des Tonneliers in Beaune (the address has remained the headquarters ever since). The house expanded to négociant commerce in 1867 by adding the merchant-side commercial activity to the existing estate production. In 1997 Maison Louis Latour celebrated its bicentennial and was admitted to the Hénokiens Club, the select circle of companies that have remained in founding family ownership for at least 200 years and still bear the name of their founder; the Hénokiens membership distinguishes Latour from peer large-Maison Burgundy producers and provides a structural institutional identity that few French wine producers can match. The 12-generation family commerce has continued without interruption; Eléonore Latour was named Vice President in 2024 as the first woman to join the family business, marking a structural transition for the institutional commercial commerce.

• 1731: Denis Latour (cooper) purchased first family vines in Côte de Beaune; son Jean moved to Aloxe-Corton 1768 establishing cooperage + acquiring Aloxe-Corton Les Chaillots, Corton Grèves, Corton Bressandes
• 1797: Maison formally established at 18 Rue des Tonneliers in Beaune (still headquarters); 1867 expanded to négociant commerce
• 1997 Bicentennial Hénokiens Club admission: select circle of companies in founding family ownership for at least 200 years bearing founder's name
• 12-generation family commerce continued without interruption; Eléonore Latour (12th gen, first woman) named Vice President 2024

The Corton Grancey Cuverie is one of the institutionally significant innovations in Burgundy winemaking architecture. The facility was built in 1834 by the Comte de Grancey and purchased by the Latour family in 1891 from the prior owner. The cuverie was designed over five levels to allow winemaking entirely by gravity, the first such facility in France: harvested fruit enters the top floor and moves progressively downward through sorting, destemming, fermentation, pressing, and barrel transfer without mechanical pumping at any stage. The gravity design preserved fruit integrity decades before contemporary gravity-flow winemaking became broadly recognized as quality-driving discipline. The Corton Grancey cuverie continues to operate as the apex production facility for the Louis Latour Côte de Beaune red and white production; the historical building anchors the institutional commercial commerce of the estate alongside the 18 Rue des Tonneliers headquarters in Beaune. The in-house cooperage at the estate produces approximately 3,500 oak barrels per year; half are used to mature Louis Latour's own wines while the other half are exported worldwide, providing a distinctive revenue stream and quality-control mechanism that few peer large-Maison producers maintain.

• Corton Grancey Cuverie built 1834 by Comte de Grancey; purchased by Latour family 1891
• Designed over five levels for gravity-only winemaking; first such facility in France; preserved fruit integrity decades before contemporary gravity-flow discipline broadly recognized
• Continues to operate as apex production facility for Louis Latour Côte de Beaune red and white production
• In-house cooperage produces ~3,500 oak barrels/year (half for Latour wines, half exported worldwide); distinctive revenue stream and quality-control mechanism

Domaine Louis Latour holds the largest collection of Grand Cru vineyards in the Côte d'Or, totaling 28.63 hectares within a 48-hectare aggregate estate footprint. The Grand Cru portfolio spans Côte de Beaune whites and reds plus selected Côte de Nuits reds: Corton-Charlemagne at 10.5 hectares (the largest single owner of the appellation), Corton at multiple parcels including the Château Corton Grancey blend (the apex Corton red production at five Corton Grand Cru parcels Les Bressandes, Les Perrières, Les Grèves, Les Chaumes, Le Clos du Roi vinified separately and blended), Chevalier-Montrachet, Bâtard-Montrachet, Chambertin, Romanée-Saint-Vivant, plus selected additional Grand Cru parcels. The Premier Cru tier includes Aloxe-Corton Les Chaillots, Pommard Epenots, Beaune Premier Cru parcels, and additional appellations. Beyond the estate production, the négociant arm purchases fruit and finished wine from across Burgundy under long-term contractual arrangements; total Louis Latour production runs approximately 750,000 cases per year, making it one of the largest négociants in Burgundy alongside Maison Bouchard Père et Fils (under restructuring), Maison Joseph Drouhin, Maison Louis Jadot, and Maison Albert Bichot. Louis-Fabrice Latour expanded the broader commercial commerce through the 2003 Simonnet-Febvre Chablis acquisition and the 2008 Henry Fessy Beaujolais acquisition.

• Domaine Louis Latour: 48-hectare aggregate estate; 28.63 ha Grand Cru (largest in Burgundy); Corton-Charlemagne 10.5 ha (largest single owner of the appellation)
• Château Corton Grancey: apex Corton red production blending five Grand Cru parcels (Les Bressandes, Les Perrières, Les Grèves, Les Chaumes, Le Clos du Roi); vinified separately + blended; produced only in best vintages
• Other Grand Crus: Chevalier-Montrachet, Bâtard-Montrachet, Chambertin, Romanée-Saint-Vivant; Premier Cru Aloxe-Corton Les Chaillots + Pommard Epenots + Beaune Premier Crus
• Louis-Fabrice expansions: Simonnet-Febvre Chablis 2003, Henry Fessy Beaujolais 2008; ~750,000 cases/year total Louis Latour production

Cellar discipline at Louis Latour combines the inherited 1834 Corton Grancey gravity architecture with contemporary winemaking discipline refined across the 12-generation family commerce. Hand-harvested fruit (for the apex Grand Cru production) is sorted and processed via the gravity flow through the Corton Grancey Cuverie. White wines (centered on the Corton-Charlemagne flagship) age in French oak barrels with new oak typically 25 to 50 percent depending on cuvée and vintage; the apex Corton-Charlemagne can carry higher new oak in suitable vintages. Élevage runs 12 to 18 months. Red wines (centered on the Château Corton Grancey blend plus single-vineyard Corton bottlings) age 14 to 20 months in French oak with similar tiered new-oak discipline. Bottling under standard cork closures with selective DIAM technical corks in recent vintages. The contemporary cellar style under the post-2022 institutional commercial commerce continues the apex large-Maison discipline that has anchored Louis Latour across the multi-decade Louis-Fabrice tenure. The cohort of apex Corton-Charlemagne producers alongside Latour includes Domaine Bonneau du Martray (the largest single contiguous holding, under Kroenke ownership since 2017), Domaine Coche-Dury (~0.88 ha post-2012 expansion), Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (~2.8 ha leased from Bonneau du Martray since 2019 vintage), Domaine Faiveley, and Domaine Bouchard Père et Fils (3.65 ha post-2022 restructured).

• Cellar combines inherited 1834 Corton Grancey gravity architecture with contemporary discipline refined across 12-generation commerce
• Hand-harvested fruit (for apex Grand Cru) sorted and processed via gravity flow; white wines French oak with 25-50% new oak depending on cuvée; 12-18 months élevage
• Reds 14-20 months French oak with tiered new oak; standard cork closures + selective DIAM in recent vintages
• Apex Corton-Charlemagne cohort: Bonneau du Martray + Coche-Dury + DRC (leased from Bonneau du Martray since 2019 vintage) + Faiveley + Bouchard Père et Fils + Latour

Maison Louis Latour occupies a singular institutional position in modern Burgundy commerce: the 12-generation family ownership across 1797 to the present, the Hénokiens Club membership distinguishing it from peer large-Maison producers, the largest Burgundy Grand Cru holding at 28.63 hectares including the Corton-Charlemagne reference position, the historic Corton Grancey gravity-flow Cuverie, and the in-house cooperage providing distinctive quality control. Louis-Fabrice Latour served as CEO 1999 to 2022 (until his death) and directed the broader commercial commerce expansion including the 2003 Simonnet-Febvre Chablis acquisition and the 2008 Henry Fessy Beaujolais acquisition. Eléonore Latour (12th generation, the first woman to join the family business) was named Vice President in 2024 marking a structural transition for the institutional commercial commerce. The cohort that defines apex large-Maison Burgundy commerce alongside Latour includes Maison Joseph Drouhin (family-owned, 1880 founding), Maison Louis Jadot (Kopf-Kobrand ownership since 1985), Maison Bouchard Père et Fils (Artémis Domaines since 2022), Maison Albert Bichot (family-owned, 1831 founding), and Maison Faiveley (family-owned hybrid grower-négociant since 1825). Within this cohort, Latour's combined Hénokiens membership + 12-generation continuity + largest Grand Cru holding + gravity-flow Cuverie + in-house cooperage provides one of the most institutionally distinctive identities in modern French wine commerce.