Tasted in Beaune with Frédéric Barnier, 12 December, 2017.
Louis Jadot
21 Rue Eugène Spuller
21200 Beaune
Tel: +33 3 80 22 10 57
www.louisjadot.com
Frédéric on 2017:
“2017 was an easy, if early, start to the season, but the end of April was more serious after the experiences of 2016. We had some damage in the Côte Chalonnaise but the Côte d’Or pretty-much escaped – of course it wasn’t easy in Chablis or Beaujolais. Luckily we had dryness so the frost wasn’t particularly damaging.
“Flowering passed in good conditions, though it was a little too warm for the chardonnay in some places. All was very clean in the vines until a late attack of mildew. The summer was fine but the end of the season was really a little too dry – we finished 2017 with minus 40% rain across the growing season vs normal. We waited and waited to harvest – we weren’t too pressed. The end of August brought 30-50 mm of rain, so we started about 1 week later. We started with the whites and few reds, waiting a little longer for the Côte de Nuits. In the end we were very satisfied, very little rot and not too much that was discarded through triage. A good harvest for reds, a good but much lower volume in the whites.”
Frédéric on 2016:
“2016 was, of-course, a little different; also a precocious start to the vintage though quite wet. But then the cold came at the end of April. Normally the hillsides don’t lose much when there’s frost, but this year that wasn’t the case. There was rain first and the frost came, the vines were encapsulated in some ice, but then was a perfect blue sky and sun did the damage. The vines were stressed and then mildew hit. The summer was actually nice and again with some dryness, again fortunately some gentle rain just before the harvest – and we had again decided to harvest late – and this rain was just what was needed to complete the maturity. We started 27 September with the whites and Beaune 1ers. In the end we had very clean grapes because the second half of the growing season was really optimal. We took a risk with the later harvesting but it paid off. A few wines, mainly the great wines – like the Bonnes-Mares – there were some whole clusters used, more from the perspective of needing more volume than from a great wish to use whole clusters!”
The wines…
Such a great range here in 2016, but it was the Côte de Beaune reds that took my breath away – consistently brilliant. The wines of the Côte de Nuits were superb, yet in the main they didn’t have quite the same consistency of magic on this visit.
2016 Santenay, Clos Gatsulard
Domaine Gagey
Hmm – wide, a nice depth of dark-red fruit and a little mixed minerality too. Lots of dimensions of flavour and complexity – rather complete with a finishing layer of earthy tannin. This will be excellent!
Domaine Gagey
Fresher, cleaner, more red-fruited. Supple, clean, lovely pinot flavour – still a coating of tannin. But bright and tasty finishing. This is a great entry wine!
Domaine des Heritiers. Of-course from En Caradeaux
Nice, red fruited but more floral. Fresh, more structural and open a little tannin then mouth-watering finishing flavours – really delicious and long!
Domaine Louis Jadot
Hmm – this has a beautiful width of clean red-fruit aroma – almost silky – super! Bright, a hint of cushioning, much finer tannin. Really layers of fabulous flavour. Very mouth-watering too. Then long, long, long. Great wine!
Domaine Gagey
A fine freshness with a hint of florals. Really mouth-filling, pure flavours, a little tannin around the edges, bright and pure in the finish. Yes!
Domaine des Heritiers.
More powdery and darker red fruit. Supple, lots of more direct concentration – finer tannin – intense but slowly mouth-watering and fading flavour. Will be great.
Also a little powder, less overt and concentrated after the Ursules. Again, super texture and with very, very fine tannin – practically no grain. A last wave of flavour radiating from the core – great again! And all so different.
It’s the mark of a great vintage when I have too may wines that I want to recommend!
2016 Pommard 1er Clos de la Commaraine
A little more excitement and a little less powder on this nose. Again very fine tannin, more than the Volnay, more structure for sure but good balancing dimensions of dark-red fruit. Tasty!
Domaine Louis Jadot.
Not much width but really a lot of aromatic depth. Like the last wine in terms of structure – a little more tannin and a lot more open and finely detailed. This is great wine – Top!
2016 Corton Pougets
Domaine des Heritiers. Not touched by the frost here
Deep, very faintly spiced red fruit. Lots of volume, concentration too – but this wine remains open over the palate – fine flavour but the structure is on an equal footing today – wait – but this wine is always worth it after 15 (plus!) years!
2016 Marsannay Clos du Roi
Domaine Gagey. Half a harvest – not bad for Marsannay!
A deeper nose still after the Corton – slowly adding some floral top notes too. Big in the mouth with energy/freshness, and lots of good flavour – some oak notes too – but those will fade. Super! Delicious dark finishing fruit.
2016 Nuits St.Georges 1er Les Boudots
Domaine Gagey. This side of Nuits wasn’t frosted.
A very enticing nose that’s wide, clean complex, faintly spiced and minty – a great invitation. Volume in the mouth, concentrated a little compact – there is density here – but melting flavour in the finish. Delicious wine that whilst drinkable is for keeping!
2016 Vosne-Romanée 1er Les Suchots
Not the widest nose but one of complexity and a little floral action too. Supple, concentrated but with flavour that slowly melts over the palate. Really plenty of interest here – slowly fading in a great finish – Yum!
2016 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Les Baudes
Domaine Gagey. Normal harvest
A more open nose of pretty, complex dark-red fruit. In the mouth less direct density after the Suchots yet seemingly just as concentrated – this more open and mobile over the palate. I’d take this one – a great finish – though some tannin too!
To compare, only one-third of a normal harvest.
A nose to fall head over heels into – faintly powdery but still gorgeous. Supple, more concentrated, but like the Baudes still open, and mobile – there’s a slight cushioning to the texture, but fine tannin again. A great clinging finish – bravo!
2016 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cazetiers
Domaine Louis Jadot.
Like some others the nose is impressively deep but a little narrow. Lots of mouth-filling volume – ultra-fine tannin. Great depth of flavour. This has such a great finish!
2016 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Estournelles St.Jacques
Domaine Louis Jadot.
A little fresher, perhaps some fresh floral elements too. More depth of flavour here, really more cushioning and weight of flavour. A bigger wine with some freshness to in the finish. Super.
2016 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Clos St.Jacques
Domaine Louis Jadot.
A red nose, more powdery than the last too – not a perfect showing. Blends that best of the last two with a redder fruited face – there is still plenty of cushioned concentration but it’s ultra-fine grained and holds super well. Very fine!
2016 Chapelle-Chambertin
Domaine Louis Jadot.
Not the deepest colour. Yet the width of aroma is really a beautiful thing, the fruit subtly underpinned with a faint caramel. Also not the biggest volume though with ample, open concentration – and a really beautifully cushioned complexity – fresh all the time – this is really beautiful wine!
Domaine Louis Jadot.
Not a large-scaled nose but one of beguiling purity and openness. Supple, plenty of structure but it’s well-covered and balanced by the quantity and quality of the flavours – fine pure fruit and a beautiful mid-palate complexity. This is gorgeous though with some structure to note – the finishing flavours just radiating out from the core. Bravo!
2016 Clos de La Roche
Domaine Louis Jadot.
A little aromatic reduction – this is the first! Supple, really a presence in the mouth – complex though reductive flavours. Long and satisfying. Super wine…
2016 Clos de Vougeot
Domaine Louis Jadot. At the bottom of the Clos here, a normal harvest. ‘Much rounder than we normally see’
Fine depth and purity to this nose. Lovely volume, complexity and flavour almost overtaking my wish to note the ample structure – lots of action, lots of complexity – this will make a great bottle.
Domaine Louis Jadot. 40% of a normal harvest.
Again, not the widest nose but a depth of purity fringed with floral extras – super! Wide on the palate too – slowly melting flavour from a highly energetic core of flavour. Really impressive but not a bit calming today. A long, radiating finish once more – a great tenacious finish!
Domaine Louis Jadot. A little more than half a harvest.
Hmm, a granular, spiced, saline complexity – this is highly engaging – slowly adding modest floral (rose) references too – super! The flavour has roses too – in a wide, full, but impressive complexity of attractive flavour. There’s structure too of-course but this is a great wine again – there is everything here. The last flavours clenched with a a little tannin.
Les blancs…
2016 Bouzeron
Domaine Gagey. The only wine that’s currently in bottle from this selection, done last week.
Bright, open, crystalline aromas. Good volume in the mouth, mouth-watering, modestly saline and with plenty of fresh intensity. Lovely wine!
2016 Santenay Clos de la Malte
Domaine Louis Jadot. Like the last, a normal harvest.
Deeper, yellow citrus though marked with a little oak at this stage. Plenty of volume in the mouth, a small trace of gas, supple generous but fresh flavours also with some oak today. Delicious wine all the same…
Domaine Louis Jadot. Half a harvest
A wider, more vibrant nose, faintly reductive – more Pernand than the process I think. Big in the mouth, tons of energy – a little cushioning, some oak but really much less than the last wine – delicious. A super wine.
2016 Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Clos des Guettes
Domaine Gagey.
Really a tighter nose – there is a little width but no depth to speak of. Fine in the mouth, a little more depth of flavour, and nice waves of finishing flavour too. It’s close between this and the last wine – but I’ve a tiny preference for the Pernand!
Domaine Gagey. Half a harvest
More depth and higher tones – fine, pure, precise fruit complexity – yes! Supple – a width of saline edged concentration – layers of fine flavour. A great vintage – like the 2010 – the last that I bought! Very long…
A normal harvest. For the first time now this is Domaine Louis Jadot.
A depth of fine aroma, vibrantly attractive. Wide, highs and lows, this is great villages – so much complexity – I love – bravo!
2016 Meursault 1er Genevrières
Domaine Louis Jadot. Lost about 40%
Deep, a little powdery – shame. In the mouth this is wide, complex, meltingly good wine. Some mid-palate tannin. Long, long… Super wine.
2016 Meursault 1er Perrières
Also first time in the Domaine Louis Jadot – from the highest parts of the vineyard – no frost here.
Not as overt as the Narvaux, but equally a nose of depth and pure, crystalline, complexity. Rather Meursault in flavour, less-so Perrières! But delicious tasty wine, of layered delivery and super balance. Super wine, again with a little tannin!
2016 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Clos de l’Abbaye
Domaine Louis Jadot.
A round and deep nose, sweetly complex and totally engaging – gorgeous! Nice volume, quite mineral in style but with a melting complexity that remains rather tasty. A beauty!
Also good volume of aroma, fresh, a little spiced and very engaging. Lovely volume in the mouth – concentrated but not a bit dense – fresh and mobile delicious wine – bravo! Very long.
2016 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Les Caillerets
Wide and fresh with a beautiful pure citrus fruit – the depth is more suggested. Bigger volume, lots of complexity – really a big and impressively complex and balanced wine – today, like the Abbaye de Morgeot it is just a little less delicious than the Duc de Magenta wine. Super though a lovely finish…
2016 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Combettes
Domaine Louis Jadot
Ahh that’s very nice – less overt than the series from Chassagne, but very pretty all the same. Big in the mouth, supple, rather composed, delivering lots of complexity in slow waves, more 2015 style of flavour delivery. But very tasty wine!
2016 Puligny-Montrachet 1er les Folatières
Domaine des Héritiers Jadot.
Ooh – now that’s noce! More open and fresher with a beautifully attractive yellow citrus note. Good volume more floral flavours, great freshness – bravo wine already, mouth-watering, beautiful yet still energetic wine – bravo! This the only of these there with a normal harvest volume
2016 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Les Pucelles
A deeper nose, more concentrated, less directly inviting to start but all the time becoming more and more attractive! Big, really filling the mouth, great flavours, long, endlessly mouth-watering such a super wine with a tenacity of fine finishing flavour. Super!
2016 Bâtard-Montrachet
Puligny side
Not the widest nose but a fine and attractive depth. Big, really big, and seemingly growing all the time – some tannin, lots of energy despite plenty of open concentration. A wide autoroute of finishing flavour, long, long, long…
Domaine des Héritiers Jadot. A small 2-barrel cuvee, elevaged this way, so it’s the only wine that a little cloudy from its lees.
Again not the biggest nose but fresh and with the vibration of minerality. In the mouth too – vibrant, reductive in the best agrume fruit sense, layered, very complex, just needing a hint more definition – this always comes from the extra tank elevage before bottling – this will be great!
Domaine des Heritiers.
Also not the widest, but such a pure and deep nose. Not quite the volume of the last too but really much more mouth-wateringly mineral – a great line of flavour. Such length of finish with finishing complexity too. Great wine in the making – wow!