2008 Louis Jadot Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru

A classic amalgam of dark cherry, licorice, and rose petal entices the taster of Jadot’s 2008 Chambertin Clos de Beze, which displays an uncanny alliance of creaminess and vivacity, richness and almost delicate elegance. Brown spices, chalk, iodine, and cyanic fruit pit bitterness add further counterpoint to the wine’s caressing texture and sweetness of fruit. This finishes with terrific persistence. I envision at least two decades and perhaps a quarter century’s fascination and enticement. Jacques Lardiere reported that selection to remove grapes tainted with rot had to be rigorous in both 2007 and 2008, but that the task was more onerous in 2008, and especially in the Cote de Beaune. A substantial share of the triage in the Cote de Nuits, he noted, was for the sake or removing under-ripe berries, and in the end less than one degree of chaptalization took place with any Jadot 2008 or 2007 red. Given the biodynamic methods now employed here, anti-botryticides are anathema, which would, one suspects, have enhanced the challenges presented in both years, but especially in 2007. The best Jadot 2008s – many of which did not finish malo until after the 2009 harvest – possess energy and sheer refreshment, if occasionally accompanied by slightly abrasive tannins and aggressive acids. What’s more, these 2008s are for the most part (by Cote d’Or standards) value-priced. The higher-priced 2007s – about which Lardiere waxed enthusiastic early in their evolution – frequently wanted somewhat for focus; sweetness of fruit; or distinctive personalities, with the exceptions being, sadly for consumers, among the most expensive crus. While Jadot’s Cote de Beaune 2007s were harvested earlier and vinified more cautiously due to their more precarious condition than were the corresponding Cote de Nuits lots, I found worrisome astringency creeping into some of the latter, and not the sort that I expect to dissipate. Fans of Clos des Ursules who maintain a vertical collection should be aware that the team here elected to bottle the small amount of 2007 (which I did not taste) exclusively in magnum. Given the extremely reasonable pricing of Jadot wines in recent years – owned by their importer, they no doubt enjoy a unique degree of flexibility thanks to vertical integration – the many excellent Jadot 2005s (for cellaring) and 2006s that remain in the marketplace are where I would look for some of Burgundy’s best Pinot values. None of the Jadot 2008s were bottled before March, but I re-tasted some of them in late April after they had been bottled, which explains the presence of limited non-parenthetic ratings. The extent of declassification or anticipated declassification in the interest of quality in 2008 spoke volumes about Jadot’s quality-consciousness, but rendered a few of the samples I tasted – even last April –indicative of vintage quality here as a whole, rather only vaguely indicative of the wines that would eventually be bottled under a given village-designated label. For example, I tasted a village Pommard representative of an assemblage of 60 barrels, but into this Lardiere planned to blend no fewer than 20-25 barrels from assorted Pommard premier crus. There will also be a village Beaune for the U.S. market, incidentally, assembled from barrels of premier cru, but also not yet assembled when I tasted. Importer: Kobrand, Inc., New York, NY; tel.(212) 490-9300

(March malo) Deep ruby-red. Sexy, animated aromas of black raspberry, crushed stone, roast coffee and mocha. Wonderfully silky on entry, then sweet but powerfully mineral in the middle, with a penetrating flavor of medicinal black cherry that carries through to the explosive, rising finish. A young grand cru of great concentration and class. This has to be one of the top ten wines of the vintage.

Very dark for a Jadot 2008, like the Clos St-Denis. Even a hint of blue in there! Smudgier nose than the Clos St-Denis with a slight hint of rawness. A bit tight and introvert. Less expressive than the Clos St-Denis but it may soften into something more delightful. Rather raw note on the end. (JR)