2016 Louis Jadot Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru

The 2016 Clos Vougeot Grand Cru (Domaine Louis Jadot) is showing well from bottle, unwinding in the glass with a youthfully primary bouquet of ripe cherries, red berries, candied peel and cassis that's subtly framed by some nicely integrated new oak. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, ample and satiny textured, its broad-shouldered chassis of impressively fine-grained tannin cloaked in a succulent, even tangy core of vibrant fruit, concluding with a long and nicely defined finish. While the structure is sufficiently refined that drinking a glass now isn't a brutalizing experience, a decade of patience is recommended.

(Jadot's vines in the lower part of the clos produced a normal yield in 2016): Bright, dark red. Medicinal red cherry, licorice, herbs and a strong element of spicy oak on the nose. Concentrated, savory and flavorful, communicating an impression of medicinal reserve. A classic, rather old-fashioned, masculine style of Clos Vougeot but not rustic or hard. Still, its tight, dusty tannins will require extended cellaring. Technical director Frédéric Barnier believes that Jadot's Clos Vougeot has been getting steadily softer, as this site has benefited from climate change; he also noted that he has not changed the vinification. Still, this is a seriously tannic, rather saline wine without any easy sweetness.

Cask sample. Lightish cherry red. Lifted, peppery raspberry freshness. Smoothest of textures here, rounded and gentle. More approachable than the Corton-Pougets but with a little less concentration on the mid palate. (JH)