Louis Latour 2024 Marsannay Rouge 750ml

Drive south out of Dijon on the N6, and the very first wine village you reach is Marsannay — the northern gateway to the entire Côte d'Or, and the point where the legendary Route des Grands Crus officially begins. It's a genuinely unusual appellation: the only village in all of Burgundy classified to produce red, white, and rosé wines under its own name, with a rosé tradition dating back to the early 1900s that first put the village on the map. But it's the reds, grown in Marsannay's characteristically rich, iron-laden soil, that critics have increasingly singled out in recent years — wines that deliver, in the words of one reviewer, genuine "Côte de Nuits complexity" at what remains, relative to its more famous neighbors, a genuinely reasonable price.

Maison Louis Latour has been a defining name in Burgundy for generations, and their Marsannay has built a consistent, decade-spanning track record: James Suckling has awarded the wine 91 points across no fewer than four separate vintages (2016, 2017, 2018, 2020), and Wine Spectator has scored it in the high 80s to low 90s going back to 2005. The house style is traditional throughout — fermentation in open vats followed by full malolactic conversion, then ten to twelve months of aging in stainless steel to preserve the wine's natural clarity and fruit purity rather than layering in oak.

For 2024, Bill Nanson of Burgundy Report, tasting the wine ahead of bottling, described a pale ruby wine with a textural, gourmand first nose — a ripe, even lightly sweet fruit core with delicate hints of dark chocolate and vanilla on the opening, developing into wild blackberry, ripe morello cherry, sweet wild strawberry, raspberry coulis, and red plum, layered with wild mint, an airy bouquet of peony and lilac, and a fine spicy edge of liquorice and nutmeg. His own assessment: "a rounder, dark fruit — a little extra textural style. Good scale — a lot of extra sweetness. Slowly fading — that's deliciously long... Yum!" This is Marsannay exactly as it should be: robust, floral, and generous, from one of the region's most consistently reliable houses.

Origins & Craftsmanship

Marsannay sits at the very northern edge of the Côte de Nuits, just south of Dijon, and received its own Appellation Contrôlée in 1987 in recognition of its consistently high-quality wine production — a relatively recent classification for such a historically significant location. The village's soils are notably rich in iron, giving Marsannay reds their characteristically lively, robust character. Maison Louis Latour, one of Burgundy's oldest and most respected producer-négociants, sources its Marsannay Rouge fruit for a house style built on tradition: hand-harvested Pinot Noir fermented in open vats, carried through complete malolactic fermentation, and aged for ten to twelve months in stainless steel vats rather than oak, preserving the natural clarity and site-driven character of the fruit.

The 2024 growing season, per Bill Nanson's early tasting of the still-unbottled wine, produced a rounder, darker-fruited wine with extra textural richness and generous natural sweetness compared to some recent vintages — qualities that point toward a fuller, more immediately appealing style once bottled and released.

Critics Reviews

No numerical critic score has been published for the 2024 vintage at this time — the wine had not yet been bottled as of Bill Nanson's January 2026 tasting.

Bill Nanson, Burgundy Report (2024 vintage, cask sample, January 2026):
"A rounder, dark fruit — a little extra textural style. Good scale — a lot of extra sweetness. Slowly fading — that's deliciously long... Yum!"

Maison Louis Latour official tasting note (2024 vintage):
"The wine has a pale ruby colour. The first nose is textural and gourmand, with a ripe, even lightly sweet fruit core and delicate hints of dark chocolate and vanilla appearing on the opening. One then finds aromas of wild blackberry, ripe morello cherry, sweet wild strawberry, raspberry coulis and red plum, together with wild mint, an airy bouquet of peony and lilac, a fine spicy side of liquorice and nutmeg, a hint of cumin and cinnamon in the background, completed after aeration by a peppery touch. There are also roasted notes of chocolate-coated toasted hazelnut, coffee and smoke in the background, as well as an elegant chocolatey nuance that brings depth and gourmandise reminiscent of cherry in chocolate and mint chocolate."

For house-style and vintage-track-record context, this exact cuvée has been consistently well reviewed across recent vintages: James Suckling 91 points (2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021) · Wine Spectator 90-91 points (2005 through 2016) · Wine Enthusiast 86-91 points (2010, 2018) · Burghound 87-89 points (2019, 2020).

Tasting Profile

Nose
Pale ruby in color. The first impression is textural and gourmand, with a ripe, lightly sweet fruit core and delicate hints of dark chocolate and vanilla on the opening. Wild blackberry, ripe morello cherry, sweet wild strawberry, raspberry coulis, and red plum build from there, joined by wild mint and an airy bouquet of peony and lilac. A fine spicy edge of liquorice and nutmeg develops, with a hint of cumin and cinnamon in the background, completed after aeration by a peppery touch.

Palate
Rounder and darker-fruited, with extra textural richness and generous natural sweetness. Roasted notes of chocolate-coated toasted hazelnut, coffee, and smoke sit in the background, alongside an elegant chocolatey nuance that adds depth and gourmandise — reminiscent of cherry in chocolate or mint chocolate.

Finish
Slowly fading, deliciously long — a finish that Bill Nanson himself summed up in a single word: "Yum."

Quick Overview

Food Pairings

• Roasted duck
• Coq au vin
• Lamb stew
• Mature cheeses