The wine is Le Montrachet 1978, Louis Latour. It has been stored
properly since shortly after release, and there were no cork, fill, or
other issues. If I remember correctly, during this era Latour and
another grower traded some wine to increase the variety that was
offered by each, and this Latour Montrachet is the result of that
trade. While not as famous as the likes of DRC (and less expensive) I
have tasted several older bottles of Louis Latour that are quited good
and that have lasted well.

The wine is bright and has a light lemon color (no brown). It has
developed much complexity with age. There is still typical fruit, but
there also is a complex mixture of waxy, honeycomb character with
hints of nuts. Also there is a bit of mineral character. Although
completely dry, the texture is nearly that of a late harvest sweet
wine. The extract seems to be very high. Clean acidity is well
balanced against the large body and reasonable alcohol content. The
aftertaste is long.

I don't know what has gone wrong with many "top" white burgundy wines
in more recent years, but it has to be something to do with making or
bottling of the wine. Many top white Burgundy wines. and not just
Montrachet, from the 1980s and older could easily last over 30 years
if properly stored. Many of these older wines were not very user
friendly before at least 10 years, and likely had a considerably
higher sulfur content than is usual now.

On Oct 25, 6:54*pm, cwdjrxyz > wrote:
> The wine is Le Montrachet 1978, Louis Latour. It has been stored
> properly since shortly after release, and there were no cork, fill, or
> other issues. If I remember correctly, during this era Latour and
> another grower traded some wine to increase the variety that was
> offered by each, and this Latour Montrachet is the result of that
> trade. While not as famous as the likes of DRC (and less expensive) I
> have tasted several older bottles of Louis Latour that are quited good
> and that have lasted well.
>
> The wine is bright and has a light lemon color (no brown). It has
> developed much complexity with age. There is still typical fruit, but
> there also is a complex mixture of waxy, honeycomb character with
> hints of nuts. Also there is a bit of mineral character. Although
> completely dry, the texture is nearly that of a late harvest sweet
> wine. The extract seems to be very high. Clean acidity is well
> balanced against the large body and reasonable alcohol content. The
> aftertaste is long.
>
> I don't know what has gone wrong with many "top" white burgundy wines
> in more recent years, but it has to be something to do with making or
> bottling of the wine. Many top white Burgundy wines. and not just
> Montrachet, from the 1980s and older could easily last over 30 years
> if properly stored. Many of these older wines were not very user
> friendly before at least 10 years, and likely had a considerably
> higher sulfur content than is usual now.

Thanks. We don't often get first person tasting notes on 33 year old
Montrachet.