Louis Jadot – 2017

4.1.2019billn

Tasted in Beaune with Frédéric Barnier, 13 December, 2018.

Louis Jadot
21 Rue Eugène Spuller
21200 Beaune
Tel: +33 3 80 22 10 57
www.louisjadot.com

Frédéric on 2018:
2018 was not an easy vintage. I would say unusual, or special, but it’s too early to say extraordinary. In terms of nature and weather it’s simply special – one of the warmest vintages but not like 2003 – it’s closer to 1947 – warm for 7 months which is completely different to 2003, which was just a couple of months. It was even tropical in Spring – just what the vines wanted – water and warm. So no surprise that we had much mildew to resist. 100% of the potential fruit actually became fruit! Another thing that was unbelievable was that mid-July to harvest it as quite dry – this was good because we had a lot of grapes, and the dry wind of September helped to concentrate and actually decreased the quantity of juice – so this was to our advantage where there was a lot of grapes. For the people with potentially 35 hl/ha it was more problematic as they ended up with 25 – that was the difficulty of 2018 – people who picked in August were maybe too early – were the skins fully ripe and not green? The paradox is that the vineyards picked from 15 Sept were almost certainly too late – so a short window but honestly the volume was actually not a bad thing!

“Technically the wines were difficult to make, some people certainly have fermentations that are not finished – we worked hard on that and now they are all done. Malos are key – maybe it’s too much to do all the malos in some whites – there is also some potential for volatile acidity – so it’s clearly a special vintage, but time will validate! I’ve done wines here since 1999 and I’ve never seen such clean grapes – but as you see there was still much work to do – we have to be very careful with the aging, the potential is there but there is some fragility that I see.

Frédéric on 2017:
2017 was a little bit later – no August picking for us. We actually started with reds – some Volnay and Beaune – rather than whites. Another generous vintage – not so much for the whites – we didn’t make as much as we like to, but rather the reds. We lost some white flowers due to the heat – conditions were better for the pinot hence the yield – more for this reason than following a frosted vintage. Bouzeron for instance was later blooming so we made all our yield so I’m sure that this was the main factor for the volumes. Some frost but I might go as far as to say a good frost in the Côte d’Or as it reduced a generous potential yield. A cool winter, then April to July a little dry but nothing like the warmth of 2018. A good year with a ‘lack of weather’ so no extremes and we have made grapes with a certain concentration. September wasn’t perfect but overall it’s a well-balanced vintage. Very nice potential for the whites. The reds are generous, fruity, accessible, easy to taste – it could be great for whites though. Good to have this vintage before the more dense 2018s that will come.

“I actually think that this is the opposite of a vintage to bottle early – I won’t touch the reds before March as they keep gaining density – we are not going to lose the fruit!

The wines…

For the reds, volume and mouth-watering freshness are really the style here this year. And like a number of addresses in 2017 – you have to wait for the grand crus for the great wines. The spread of ‘great’ is wider in the whites, but the top wines are, once more, exactly that.

2017 Santenay, Clos Gatsulard
Domaine Gagey
Ooh – a very forward nose spice fresh red fruit – very attractive. Supple, layered, depth of flavour. A rasp of modest tannin – delicious!

2017 Prieur-Brunet, Santenay 1er Maladière
Will do 6 wines with Prieur-Brunet label this year, to keep the identity of that domaine, mainly Santenay and Meursault. So a similar concept to the Magenta wines. But all made here in Beaune
Fresher, wider, less overt fruit. Fresh more direct, a little structure, attractive flavour and a touch of oak. Very nice.

2017 Chorey-lès-Beaune, Beaumonts
Domaine Gagey
Great colour. Les aromatic impact. Hmm, more structural, larger, more tannic but with great flavour. Deep and concentrated – great flavour and this will keep for sure – juicy flavour.

2017 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Clos de la Croix de Pierre
Domaine des Heritiers. Of-course from En Caradeaux
Needs coaxing but here’s a very fine, pure precise berry fruit aroma – lovely. Clarity, open, ooh that’s so good – not a wine of impact but a wine to fall headlong into. Gorgeous.

2017 Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Dominode
Domaine Louis Jadot
Very fine – wide, precise, less dark red as the Pernand. Ooh – energy – mouth-filling freshness – so attractive – I can so easily forget the structure, the tannin – this is simply so beautifully accessible but not ‘facile’!

2017 Beaune 1er Clos du Roi
Domaine Louis Jadot
Here is a little more mineral depth. Wide, fresh, depth and energy. Layers of flavour a suggestion of reduction. Complex, delicious wine of depth – ever-growing in a very great finish…

2016 Beaune 1er Cras
Domaine Gagey
A deeper nose, transparent yet deeper and tighter. More open, more architectural, melting fresh flavour – great clarity of fine flavour again – very different shaped and so, so juicy – ooh that’s great!

2017 Beaune 1er Clos des Ursules
Domaine des Heritiers.
Here is more density of aroma, pure but with a finely divided accent of spice. Volume again – fresh. Mouth-watering – really the style here this year. More complexity and touch more tannin – wait longer for this but super!

2017 Prieur-Brunet, Meursault Rouge
A touch less colour. More vibrant. More mouth-filling again – very fresh, so mouth-watering, touched by tannin – there’s a little more intensity here and in the finish more juicy, slightly earthy finishing flavour – Really super – not better than the Beaunes though…

2017 Volnay Clos de la Barre
The first with a heavier oak on the nose – more vanilla. Big, fresh, juicy fruit more depth and density of flavour but quite a high level of oak in this sample – great texture though. Looks promising but certainly not for today…

2017 Volnay 1er Santenots
Domaine Louis Jadot. A new wine via Prieur-Brunet, in Plures
A very different register still some oak but much more modest – wider with more floral fruit. Weighed, density of great fruit, complex, tannic but again juicy. This will be really excellent – super wine!

2017 Pommard 1er Clos de la Commaraine
Ooh – really a very fine and deep nose. Volume, layers, energy and intensity for sure – slightly herbed character, but very complex and with great depth of flavour.

2017 Pommard 1er Rugiens
Domaine Louis Jadot. Like the last wine, the last vintage here, but only for a while as they wait to replant.
A fine, more florally complex nose. Lots of volume, lots of energy – a wider and more finely divided complexity after the Commaraine, deliciously chewy finishing. Yes!

2016 Corton Pougets
Domaine des Heritiers.
Floral a with and oak accent. More structure, more tannin – not more volume but there’s more density – another sample with a lot of oak – but long and impressively dense yet energetic in the finish.

2017 Marsannay Clos du Roi
Domaine Gagey.
A nose that needs coaxing from the glass but clearly a different, darker, fresh fruit and of nice width too. Structurally different too – open, good structure much less tannin but open and melting with fine dark-red flavour – excellent again

2017 Nuits St.Georges 1er Les Boudots
Domaine Gagey.
Less aromatic volume, more red, fresh red, but some cushioning. Drive, direct and fresh wine. Growing from the core, intense a back-ended wine starting narrow and just growing and growing.

2017 Vosne-Romanée 1er Les Suchots
Hmm – more open, vibrant, inviting – perhaps spiced – but this is more about the fruit. Good weight and volume – there’s concentration and a little tannin here – complex, actually layered concentration too. This is excellent!

2017 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Les Baudes
Domaine Gagey.
Narrower, fine and pure dark berries. More line – open, wide, fresh flavour. Finishing with plenty of proper structure – yet, completely delicious.

2017 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Les Fuées
Domaine Louis Jadot.
A hint less colour. Completely different – more a complexity of aroma, spiced too – I could be blinded if you said Vosne! Deep, supple, concentrated wine. Always a semi-gc for me – this is no exception. Concentrated, layered, beautiful detail despite the weight. Great wine.

2017 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Estournelles St.Jacques
Domaine Louis Jadot.
A fine freshness – far from the density of the Fuées – more ethereal. Silky, of weight, of transparency, growing in depth and concentration – a real ‘grower’ of a wine. Never the greatest but always more than ‘worthy’ here – never turn down the chance to drink it!

2017 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Clos St.Jacques
Domaine Louis Jadot.
A fine and complex width of aroma if not particularly deep today. Fine volume, another ethereal wine with just a little more depth of flavour and depth of texture too. Stunningly delicious finishing – the high-point of this wine!

2017 Chapelle-Chambertin
Domaine Louis Jadot. 90 yo vines here.
Plenty of oak here but also a great expression of fresh, pure fruit. Oak again, but layers of fine flavour and density of expression – held together by the energy of the wine. Hard today with the oak, but the middle and finishing flavours are simply great!
2016 Clos de Bèze
Domaine Louis Jadot.
Ooh – great nose – not really big but so complex and so inviting with flowers and minerals not just fruit. Full, hyper-complex, accessible but profound – the paradox of the vintage.

2017 Clos de Vougeot
Domaine Louis Jadot. At the bottom of the Clos here.
A wide, herbed, fruited ball of complexity – but so wide. Ooh – more composed than the last couple of wines – you might also be tempted to say more austere – though not in the generally accepted terms – but I accept in the context of 2017 – but this has great architecture, it has layers of very fine, cool fruit, melting flavour, and I could actually drink glass of this without regret for lunch – a glass? Sorry a half magnum…

2017 Echézeaux
Domaine Louis Jadot.
Ooh – not particularly wide for an Echézeaux this year but with an extra floral component. Full, Supple, growing – eventually full volume, such complexity, such depth of great flavour. Great!
2017 Clos de La Roche
Domaine Louis Jadot.
It needs coaxing – but what reward – beautiful floral notes! Full, framed with a relatively modest tannin – there’s hardly any astringency. Open, pure very fine fruit, a mineral quality. But it’s the depth of middle and finishing flavours where this excels – great!
2017 Bonnes-Mares
Domaine Louis Jadot. Practically the only wine with some wc – in this line-up – ‘to amuse us to see what it brings…’
Also a wine that blooms with swirling – such a great perfume of flowers. More frank, architectural, tannin but hardly a grain is perceptible. Concentrated, complex and, importantly, accessible. Great flavour, really great, Bravo BM!

Les blancs…
The first 5 are bottled. Since 2011 we are more present in Chablis with one historic partner but we are looking to do more – to be perceived as serious in Chablis. A large part is vinified here in Beaune – a part in tank and a part in 450 litre barrels. We are planning to vinify in Chablis in 2019, even the Petit Chablis currently is more than 80% vinified in Beaune, it’s important for us. Wines with more tank elevage stabilise much more quickly, for that reason I think it’s okay to be in the first wave of bottling, but we still do 14-15 months of elevage.

2017 Petit Chablis
Fresh – no hard or angular edges, almost a little lime fruit. A decent amount of CO2 at bottling, it seems, but layered, delicious pure lemon-inflected flavour – ooh this is so easy, so delicious for PC!

2017 Chablis
We were lucky that most of our partners were not particularly touched by the frost, but one couldn’t deliver anything.
More vibrant, more complex- ooh – seriously a great nose! Direct, intense, fresh, beautifully put together. Bravo! Simply great villages with very fine length!

2017 Chablis 1er Fourchaume
Bottled one week. Half elevage in older large barrels, half in tank.
Ooh – beautiful, pure, vibrant nose – it’s great here. Plenty of gas. Have to wait… Good volume, lovely concentration, eventually layers of flavour in the finish. Very long – more than excellent!

2017 Chablis 1er Montée de Tonnerre
Less width of aroma but no less vibrancy. Some gas. A little extra mouth-filling volume. More depth of ripe yellow citrus fruit, longer more concentrated fruit, actually today I’ve a preference for the style of the Fourchaume. Delicious, excellent wine all the same!

2017 Chablis Les Clos
Towards the bottom of the slope – about 1/3 a hectare.
Not so wide but a great depth of fresh and pure notes. Some gas of-course. Wide, complex, depth of flavour – there is certainly more complexity here. Great flavour absolutely fabulous Chablis GC – bravo!
2017 Bouzeron
Domaine Gagey. The last in bottle from this selection.
Only a touch less aromatic volume, but a fine floral complexity here. Big, fresh, complex, energetic – ooh that’s so good. Long and satisfying – for the label clearly bravo!

2017 Santenay Clos de la Malte
Domaine Louis Jadot.
Fresh with a touch of barrel – attractive all the same. Drive, energy, weight of fresh flavour. Excellent!

2017 Santenay Clos Faubard
Domaine Louis Jadot.
A similar nose that’s barrel-inflected, perhaps even more-so. Big, fresher, more energetic, more width of complex finishing flavour too. Lots of oak but very tasty and finely fresh!

2017 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Clos de la Croix de Pierre
Domaine Louis Jadot.
Like all (most), freshness of aroma, and much invitation. More depth, more concentration but also more energy. Big wine in 2017 – long too. Bravo.

2017 Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Clos des Guettes
Domaine Gagey.
Hmm, vibrantly pure and beautifully complex – directly – Yes! Concentrated, full, layered. Very fine. Fuller flavoured 2017, the nose is great the palate fine…

2017 Beaune 1er Grèves Blanc
Domaine Gagey.
Hmm – directly a great nose – one that’s wide and fresh, the coconut of the oak is very-much in the background. Lots of intensity, and freshness of volume. Always a favourite here and this is no exception – Excellent!

2017 Meursault Chevaliers
A new wine here, Domaine Louis Jadot.
A fine line of aroma, fine points of freshness. Plenty of volume. Width that grows, fresh, deliciously ginger-spiced flavour. Wide and long. Ooh – what more could you (I) want?

2017 Meursault 1er Charmes
Domaine Louis Jadot.
Starting just a touch more guarded, but slowly widening with a very fine and spiced yellow citrus. Fuller, more concentration, but no less depth and energy to the flavour, Long, long, long. Ooh that’s good! A very fine Charmes and far from rich…

2017 Meursault 1er Perrières
2nd vintage chez Domaine Louis Jadot – from the highest parts of the vineyard.
Directly a fresher and more floral aromatic profile – beautiful pure citrus fruit too. Narrower than the Charmes on entry but a wine that grows and grows over the palate- Fresh, layered, melting flavour – faintly touched by oak, but relatively faintly. Excellent, indeed with the fine texture towards the finish I would say bravo – a beautiful finish!

2017 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Combettes
Domaine Louis Jadot
Hmm – directly there is class here – a slightly caramel aspect at the edges, but class. Big in the mouth; there’s energy and volume here. Yet so narrow and long finishing – almost a surprise – but sooo long…

2017 Puligny-Montrachet 1er les Folatières
Domaine des Héritiers Jadot.
A deeper nose, some caramel here, but still with a high-toned and fresh style. Fuller, more concentrated, really more concentrated! Layered finishing – ooh this is great this year! A little phenolic texture to finish too.

2017 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Clos de la Garenne
Domaine Duc de Magenta
Not such a large nose, but one of purity and mineral freshness. Full, great concentration and width too. Layers, moving over the palate. Complex and delicious

2017 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Clos de l’Abbaye
Domaine Louis Jadot.
Hmm, complex, a touch of oak but just as part of the overall complexity. Lovely round, fresh, minerality. Such a delicious wine again…

2017 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Morgeot Clos de la Chapelle
Domaine Duc de Magenta
Nice volume of aroma, also with a hint of oak today, but complex and deep. More freshness to this volume. More minerality. Finer, more finesse – this is really quite something.

2017 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Embazées
Domaine Louis Jadot
A modest spice over a nice width of freshness, a comforting impression. Volume but with a certain mineral concentration – lots of finishing complexity – it’s absolutely delicious here – only most mildest of barrel references. Super!

2017 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Romanée
Wide, fresh, floral – oooh what a great, great nose – I hardly need to say inviting! Complex and concentrated – here is such a great wine – mineral but with melting, generous complexity. A weight of flavour – again, quite something.
2017 Bâtard-Montrachet
Puligny side
So wide, a special kind of fresh fruit intensity here, touched, ever so slightly, with some white flowers. Deep, vibrant, intense, concentrated. Special! The finishing intensity is really something – can it be better than this? Well there are two more wines!
2017 Chevalier-Montrachet Demoiselles
Domaine des Héritiers Jadot.
Here the nose is relatively modest in terms of volume, but in terms of depth it’s clearly very fine and with a little reductive vibration too. Wide, mouth-filling, layered, a touch reductive – oh but so wow! It can’t get better, but wait – there’s one more!
2017 Corton-Charlemagne
Domaine des Heritiers.
More composed, some barrel-caramel here. Big in the mouth, a different structure, a different mentality, but anyway bigger, wider, layered, great wine!

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