Wine Advisor
Louis Jadot, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru 2017
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2017 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru offers attractive scents of red and black fruit, subtle notes of oyster shell and fish scales lurking in the background and imparting fine complexity. The palate is sumptuous on the entry, offering fleshy red fruit, real density and weight and a compelling, lightly spiced finish that displays cohesion and freshness. This is an excellent Bonnes-Mares from Jadot – in fact, one of the best I have tasted in this vintage.
Reviewed by: William Kelley
The 2017 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru (Domaine Louis Jadot) is excellent, and one of the high points of the range, unwinding in the glass with a reserved bouquet of cherries, red berries, peony and orange rind, with a little hint of the savory complexity to come. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with a tight-knit, chalky but multidimensional core underpinned by bright animating acids, concluding with a long, mineral finish. This will need a decade or more in bottle to unwind but will be excellent in the fullness of time.
Reviewed by: James Suckling
Extremely perfumed and aromatic character, offering fresh strawberries and watermelon, as well as white roses. Full body and fully integrated fruit with the tannins melted into the wine. Shows beauty and strength. Try after 2023 but already a joy to try.
About the Producer
Situated in the heart of Burgundy, Maison Louis Jadot is one of the most prestigious estates representing the spirit of Burgundian wine. It was founded by the Jadot family in 1859 when they bought the Clos des Ursules, a prestigious first growth in the Beaune region. In 1954, the then owner Louis Auguste Jadot asked Andre Gagey to become the winemaker of Château Louis Jadot. In 1984, Madam Jadot transferred the ownership of Château Louis Jadot to the Kopf Family, an American family dedicated to acquiring the finest vineyards, but there was no change in the management of the estate. Pierre-Henry Gagey has been in charge of the estate since 1992. The estate covers 154 hectares of vineyards throughout Burgundy, more than half of which are in the Grand Cru and Grand Cru categories. It is surprising that there are only two winemakers in this large vineyard. The main grape varieties planted in the vineyard are Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Gamay. The average age of the vines is between 20 and 80 years. In terms of winemaking, Louisiadour uses grapes from its own vineyards or buys them under contract from the winegrowers, a practice that is rare in other wineries. The barrels are all homemade and a skilled craftsman can make five barrels a day. While oak is usually left for around two years before barrel making, Château Louisiade prefers to wait patiently for an extra year. In their opinion, the barrels made from oak that has been exposed to the elements will not overshadow the aromas of the wine, thus ensuring the high quality of the wine. For Château Louis Jadot, the true essence of winemaking is the ability to interpret the terroir of the region in the wine, not just the careful cultivation of a specific grape variety to produce a wine of great flavour. It is this philosophy that has made Louisiadour synonymous with excellence. Its label, depicting Bacchus, is a symbol of the quality of the wines it produces, whether appellation or grand cru.
