Capturing a vintage commune by commune
And introducing 2018 Burgundy…
There's no denying that when it comes to Burgundy these days, growers are more sexy than négociant houses. You might (as I do) associate the Bacchus head image of Maison Louis Jadot with that terribly reasonable bottle of white Burgundy that accompanied me through my student years. Yet that would be entirely to lose sight of what makes Jadot great. With 60 hectares of vineyard in the Cote d'Or alone, and plots in many of Burgundy's very finest vineyards, including a few monopoles, the house has a star-studded portfolio showcasing the best of what Burgundy has to offer.
The house Louis Jadot was founded in 1859, but its history goes back further than that - in 1826 the Jadot family purchased the Clos des Ursules, which has remained a monopole of theirs ever since. It is among the jewels in their portfolio. Much of their production is now biodynamic. The domaine vineyards belong to various entities: Domaine Louis Jadot itself, Les Héritiers de Louis Jadot and Domaine André Gagey. It was previous cellarmaster and winemaker Jacques Lardière who properly set Jadot on the road to greatness - a path now carefully followed by his successor, Frédéric Barnier.
Under Frédéric's guiding hand, there is a remarkable consistency of winemaking across the range. Having only just come back from Burgundy, I was struck when tasting the Jadot 2018s by how beautifully they expressed the spirit of the vintage, commune by commune. 2018 was a warm year, producing ripe, concentrated fruit, and many of these wines will have a long life ahead in the cellar. At Jadot they destem all their fruit and it lends their wines a lovely purity. The biggest surprise of the vintage was the whites; we expected ripeness, but found high levels of energy, electricity, and excitement. /NT
Offered subject to remaining unsold; for shipment Autumn/Winter 2020
