Domaine Louis Jadot Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru Domaine des Héritiers 2022

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

This vineyard is one of the oldest owned by Louis Jadot since the XIXth century. It is located in the very heart of the appellation (next to the Corton Pougets) which then expanded after 1966. Originally, it was the only place to be allowed to bear the Corton-Charlemagne apellation.

This vineyard is ideally South oriented.

Grapes are harvested by hand and put in small cases in order not to damage the fruits. Grapes are pressed softly, they ferment in oak barrels produced by our cooperage. 1/3 are new barrels. Aging usually lasts 15 months on fine lies before bottling.

The 2022 Vintage

Winemaker Frédéric Barnier and his team have produced another strong portfolio chez Jadot, with a relatively abundant crop of charming, pure and demonstrative wines, with alcohol back in more normal territory after the highs of 2018, 2019 and 2020. As I’ve written before, in the cellar, foudres and 500-liter barrels now complement classic 228-liter pièces, a further evolution adapting to warmer, riper vintages. A cold room also helps chill down any fruit that’s too warm when it enters the winery. 2022 is also the second vintage of organic conversion for the Domaine Louis Jadot and the Domaine Gagey.

William Kelley, The Wine Advocate

Vintage 2022 Winter was mild and dry, and whilst spring was again early and there were several nights of frost between April 3rd and 10th, only the most precocious sites were affected. High temperatures in May saw an early, even and abundant flowering at the end of the month. June continued hot but with considerable rainfalls towards the end of the month, which was critical to the success of the season. Veraison began during the first ten days of July,,but slowed due to the lack of rain. Summer saw four heat waves yet the vines coped remarkably well, and didn’t show any signs of stress as in 2020. The hot, dry conditions did slow growth and ripening and with a few thundery showers in the Côte in late August, and the harvest of very healthy grapes commenced on August 30th. Temperatures continued high during the harvest so great attention was paid to managing the temperature of the fruit and of the ferments. Yields were excellent for the reds and healthy for the whites, and while 2022 was one of the hottest and driest in Burgundy after 1947 and 2003, we believe our vineyards are adapting to climate change.

The wines: Starting harvest in August allowed us to retain the acidity in the whites; the bouquets are expressive with good aromatic and flavour complexity. The reds are deeply coloured with optimum levels of ripeness. The modest levels of acidity throws emphasis onto the silky nature of the tannins in 2022, with good fruit density and ageing potential.

Frédéric’s Barnier | Chef de Cave

The 2022 Vintage in General by Allen Meadows, Burghound

The best wines are modern classic Burgundies in the best sense of that term. They have something of everything in terms of a tantalising freshness as they are decidedly very Pinot in character followed by good, if not truly remarkable transparency on the palate. To obtain transparency, you usually have to sacrifice either richness or concentration and this is what is so special about the 22’s is that they have enough to each that it renders the mouthfeel to be particularly seductive while retaining the balance necessary such that a complete picture of a given terroir can be assessed and appreciated. With respect to agreeability 2022 really is one of those rare vintage where almost everyone can have their cake and eat it too, like them young, no problems, like them old no problems as well.

The 2022 Vintage in General by Jasper Morris MW – Inside Burgundy

“All other things being equal, I would recommend going large in 2022, large in the sense of a broad range because there are so many really good wines at all levels.”

Jasper Morris MW

Burgundy has shifted in through a cycle dominated by negociants who purchased barrels of wine and bottled them under their own name to growers bottling under their own name, often without using the vineyard names, then adding all of the Cru and Lieux Dits names.

In that time the negociants shifted to taking greater involvement in vineyards, and owning vineyards.

The best has invested heavily in their owned vineyards, working with vineyard owners to raise the quality of their fruit, and evolving slowly to find the balance between time tested winemaking techniques and innovation through science.

Louis Jadot has been able to carefully navigate the changes in Burgundy, and smoothly transition custodianship from Jacques Lardière, a veteran of 42 vintages at Jadot, to Fréderic Barnier who has lead Jadot since 2012.

About Maison Louis Jadot

Maison Louis Jadot was established in 1859 by Louis Henri Denis Jadot and developed by succeeding generations. In 1985 their US distributor Rudi Kopf purchased the business while also purchasing Domaine Clair Daü (which brought with it Grand Crus of Chambertin Clos de Bèze, Bonnes Mares, Clos Vougeot and Corton Grèves).

Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot has long belonged to the Jadot family and includes the original Louis Jadot Monopole Beaune Premier Cru ‘Clos des Ursules’ vineyard, purchased in 1826, plus Corton Pougets  and Corton Charlemagne. Pierre Henri-Gagey, current President succeeded his father André Gagey in 1992 and today his son Thibault is deeply involved in Louis Jadot. Domaine Gagey has been in their family for generations, and in­cludes great vineyards in Clos Saint Denis and Echézeaux.

Domaine du Duc de Magenta is not strictly owned by Louis Jadot, but is on a very long term, exclusive contract for the Chassa­gne Montrachet Premier Cru Morgeot ‘Clos de la Chapelle’. In the 1990’s Louis Jadot invested in vineyards such as Côte de Nuits Villages Le Vaucrain and Beaujolais Chateau des Jacques Moulin-a-Vent and Morgon, and began working their own cooperage, Cadus, based in Ladoix.

Enjoy these fascinating podcast with Levi Dalton & Jacques Lardière who look after Jadot for 42 vintages and his successor Frederic Barnier. As Levi notes, you’ll definitely have to listen to the one with Jacques twice to even start to get your head around the discussion.

In the Vineyard

The Louis Jadot Domaine (comprised of 125 hectares over 28 communes, 298 parcels and 45 growers) is spread across three geographic centres, each working with its own team and its own tools, which minimises Louis Jadot’s carbon footprint across the broader Burgundian region.

In the Winery

From Frederic Barnier via Burghound
The fruit was essentially spotless save for some sunburned berries that sorting tables now remove easily. Yields were not great though to be fair, neither were they truly dismal as the chardonnay came in between 33 and 35 hl/ha and the pinot was basically between 30 and 34 hl/ha. Interestingly, the potential alcohols were essentially the same for both colors, ranging as they did between 13.8 and 14.2%. I chose to use a bit of whole cluster, but it wasn’t systematic. I used a light hand with the extractions as it would have been easy to have had an excess of tannins. The fermentations passed easily and the malos for many reds were finished before Christmas. By contrast, I chose to block on average 50% of the malolactic fermentation to help them retain more natural acidity. As to the wines, they have excellent energy and transparency with good mid-palate fat. As such, 2019 should be one of those vintages that will provide early drinking pleasure but also reward at least mid-term cellaring.

Red Winemaking at Louis Jadot
Louis Jadot’s wineries are the envy of any serious winemaker. Blending simplicity of tried and tested techniques & equipment with the possibilities science and technology offer.

2022 Côte d’Or vintage report by Frederic Barnier

Vintage 2022 Winter was mild and dry, and whilst spring was again early and there were several nights of frost between April 3rd and 10th, only the most precocious sites were affected. High temperatures in May saw an early, even and abundant flowering at the end of the month. June continued hot but with considerable rainfalls towards the end of the month, which was critical to the success of the season. Veraison began during the first ten days of July,,but slowed due to the lack of rain. Summer saw four heat waves yet the vines coped remarkably well, and didn’t show any signs of stress as in 2020. The hot, dry conditions did slow growth and ripening and with a few thundery showers in the Côte in late August, and the harvest of very healthy grapes commenced on August 30th. Temperatures continued high during the harvest so great attention was paid to managing the temperature of the fruit and of the ferments. Yields were excellent for the reds and healthy for the whites, and while 2022 was one of the hottest and driest in Burgundy after 1947 and 2003, we believe our vineyards are adapting to climate change.

The wines: Starting harvest in August allowed us to retain the acidity in the whites; the bouquets are expressive with good aromatic and flavour complexity. The reds are deeply coloured with optimum levels of ripeness. The modest levels of acidity throws emphasis onto the silky nature of the tannins in 2022, with good fruit density and ageing potential.

Where in the World is Louis Jadot

Maison Louis Jadot is based in Beaune, but their wines come from parcels all across Burgundy. The Maison owns more than 150 hectares of vineyards, 70 Ha of which lie in the Côte d’Or, ranging from Villages to some of the most sought after Premier and Grand Cru parcels in the region.

This particular wine comes from the Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru in Aloxe-Corton.