2018 Louis Jadot Chambertin Grand Cru Domaine Louis Jadot, Burgundy

Purchased as wine, the 2018 Chambertin Grand Cru (Maison Louis Jadot) is more overtly marked by new oak than the domaine's Clos de Bèze that preceded it, revealing vanillin-inflected aromas of ripe red fruits and spices. On the palate, it's full-bodied, velvety and enveloping, with a ripe and charming profile.

"We were never worried about the red wines in 2018," explained Jadot's Frédéric Barnier, "but we worked hard with the white wines—blocking a lot of malolactic—to make them fresh and lively. Of course," he added, "the high yields helped retain freshness by retarding ripening." Anyone who has tasted with Barnier knows that he tends to come to the point, and those succinct comments are in fact a great summation of Jadot's 2018 vintage: beautifully balanced reds and whites that are impressively vibrant and precise. This was by some margin the largest range of wines I tasted from any producer in the 2018 vintage: that it was also one of the most consistent speaks volumes about the attention to detail and technical expertise of Barnier and his team. "Operating on a large scale, we know how important it is to ensure wines go dry and to avoid stuck fermentations; and we avoid cross-contamination and taste the wines regularly during élevage, so we don't have issues with brettanomyces," explained Barnier. And evidently, what Jadot's team know well, some smaller domaines have had to learn the hard way with the 2018 vintage. As the accompanying notes indicate, Jadot's 2018 portfolio offers rich pickings, and there are plenty of cuvées here that merit consideration. This important firm is a credit to contemporary Burgundy.

92-94 points William Kelley robertparker.com

Located in Burgundy’s finest subregions, including Chablis, the Côte de Nuits, Côte de Beaune, Côte Chalonnaise, Mâconnais, and Beaujolais, Maison Louis Jadot makes top-rated red and white Burgundy, including the Musigny Grand Cru label. Maison Louis Jadot wines are known for being high in quality and of great value. Jadot's principles of vinification balance tradition and technology and focus on the purest expression of the terroir. Jadot aims to cultivate its vines with consideration for the environment and the microbial life of the soils.