Joseph Henriot was certainly a giant of more than one (wine) stage, and Jancis offers a wider perspective of his works than any Burgundy specialist could:
I remember an anecdote from Philippe Prost who was wine-maker at the time of the Henriot acquisition of Bouchard Père et Fils, Philippe related that Joseph Henriot told everyone to put their wish-list on the table for dragging Bouchard back into the top quality level. Philippe’s list extended to xxx new barrels to be bought for the forthcoming vintage. Joseph looked him in the eye and asked – “But in a perfect world, what would you have asked for?” – “300 more new barrels, in addition to the ones I’ve already asked for” replied Philippe. Joseph paused and then said – “Okay, well you’d better go order them then…”
The fine portrait (right) is courtesy Jon Wyand.
See also these:
- http://www.winespectator.com/webfeature/show/id/51552
- http://www.decanter.com/news/wine-news/588253/champagne-and-burgundy-great-joseph-henriot-dies