Louis Jadot, 'Les Amoureuses' Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru, Burgundy, France, 2022

Overview of the Wine
Louis Jadot is one of Burgundy's most important negociants, both qualitatively and quantitatively, with a portfolio that covers everything from inexpensive Bourgogne and Beaujolais wines to several grand cru wines, from the Côte de Beaune to Chablis. Unsurprisingly, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay feature heavily in the portfolio. 

The house was founded in Beaune in 1859 by Louis Jadot, although the first vineyard – Clos de Ursules – was purchased in the 1820s. The headquarters remains in Beaune, although vineyard holdings have increased exponentially. Louis Jadot owns land in some of Burgundy's most famous vineyards, including Le Musigny, Échezeaux, Chapelle-Chambertin and in the famously fragmented Clos de Vougeot vineyard. Louis Jadot wines are also made in Chambertin, Montrachet, Corton and Romanée-Saint-Vivant.

As well as the sizeable portfolio of wines made under the Louis Jadot label itself, the house also makes wines for Domaine du Duc de Magenta, and for Domaine Gagey. Andre Gagey took over as general manager for Louis Jadot in 1968 and, along with winemaker Jacques Lardiere, is often held responsible for Louis Jadot's high reputation.

Grape / Blend
Pinot Noir

Origin
Burgundy, France

Tasting Notes
This deeply colored wine shows subtle aromas of violets and spices, and round, firm flavors on the palate, with quite powerful tannins. This is a wine to age, and will improve in the bottle for 15 to 20 years. One of the 24 Premiers Crus of Chambolle-Musigny, Les Amoureuses borders the vineyards of Vougeot just under Le Musigny. Many Burgundy vignerons regard this vineyard’s quality to be equal to a Grand Cru. The Pinot Noir grapes ferment in vats for up to four weeks, then the wine matures in oak barrels for 15 to 18 months.

96 Points - Decanter
Jadot's Chambolle Amoureuses is produced from the plot of 0.12 hectares acquired from the Clair-Daü estate in 1985. It is located on the Comblanchien limestone terrace before the climat drops more steeply toward the stream of the Vouge. This cuvée is one of the few where technical director Frédéric Barnier experiments with whole cluster fermentation, leaving one-third of the bunches intact, producing a silky, dense wine with a spicy blackberry fruit aroma and impressive length. This superb wine is built for the long haul, but it should be accessible young as well.

93-95 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
There are two and a half barrels of the 2022 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses (Domaine Louis Jadot), the most perfumed wine in the cellar, bursting with notes of orange zest, peonies, exotic spices, cherries and raspberries. Medium to full-bodied, pure and suave, it's lively and mineral, with a rich core of fruit and a long, aromatic finish. 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.

93-95 Points - Vinous
The 2022 Chambolle-Musigny Les Amoureuses 1er Cru showed more reduction on the nose compared to the Bonnes-Mares: brambly red fruit, Earl Grey, and light forest floor aromas blossom in the glass. Fine delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with plush tannins, velvety smooth with maraschino cherries, marmalade and touches of fresh fig. This is quite exotic towards the finish. By direct comparison, the aforementioned Grand Cru has a little more composure and restraint and perhaps handled the warmth of the growing season better. Still, it's a lovely Amoureuses.

Product size: 750ml