Jayer-Gilles was a producer/estate that I firstly knew as a producer of expensively oaked wines that needed time in the cellar before I should approach them – my last bottle was drunk very recently, over Christmas.
Gilles Jayer, a cousin of Henri Jayer, took on some notoriety last year when his 11 hectare estate was sold for a bold sum to the Swiss, André Hoffmann. It was said at the time that Gilles would remain on hand to help manage the estate as required by the new owner. But it seems that behind those headlines, something was lurking, to which Gilles very recently succumbed. His funeral was today in the church of Magny-les-Villers.