The House of Louis Jadot has been producing exceptional Burgundy wines since its founding in 1859 by Louis Henry Denis Jadot. For the past 150 years Louis Jadot has continued as one of the great names of Burgundy and has gained international reputation for its superb red and white Burgundy wines. Louis Jadot is not only one of the largest producers of estate Burgundies of the Cote d'Or, it is one of the most celebrated exporters of premium Burgundies, owning close to 140 acres of vineyards from 24 of the most prestigious sites in Burgundy.

Location: Gevrey Chambertin is the most northern of the great communes of the Côte de Nuits. There are 26 Premiers Crus and 8 Grands Crus. Half of the Premiers Crus of Gevrey lie on the Grands Crus east facing slope ; the other half occupies a steep, southeast facing slope to the north, with calcareous clay soils.

Vineyard: Charmes Chambertin vineyard is situated on the east facing slope between Mazoyères Chambertin Grand Cru, Latricières Chambertin and Chambertin Grand Cru. Charmes is derived from Chaume, meaning subtle or thatch indicating the former presence of a field of grain.

Vinification & Maturation: The grapes bear small little dark red berries. The bunches are destemmed; they macerate in open vats during 4 weeks helping this subtle terroir to reveal itself. After devatting, the wines are aged in oak barrels during 18 months.

Jacques Lardiere did very long macerations in '97, '98 and '99-typically 28 to 36 days in '99, though due to the sheer size of the crop he had to speed up the maceration of a few of his smaller wines by punching down the cap more frequently. Although Jadot made the full allowable yields in many of its holdings (in some instances, production was three times the yield of '98, according to Lardiere), the best cru bottlings will have no problem aging for 30 years, Lardiere claims. "We had similar grape sugars to '98 and slightly lower acidity, but there are plenty of tannins to compensate for the lower acids," he explained. "It a group of wines that will be pretty after the bottling but age well." Lardiere routinely eliminated about 20% of the juice via saignee following the '99 harvest; he is confident that this technique for concentrating the must removes only water.

Weather in 1999: Flowering took place in cool weather in June. The summer was warm and humid, and once again mildew and oidium caused problems. Moreover it was clear that the crop would be huge, and growers had to green-harvested to keep yields under control. Hot conditions from mid-August to mid-September speeded the ripening, and the harvest took place during the second half of September. Some rain fell at this time, but caused very little damage to the ripe bunches. The grapes were very healthy, acidities sound if not exceptional.

Technical Information:
Vineyards: Charmes Chambertin
Region: Burgundy
Grape Varieties: 100% Pinor Noir
Alcohol: 13.5%
Drink: Now to 2030

Tasting Note: A delight from Maison Louis Jadot offering up cherries and floral notes on the nose and palate, evolving into liquorice, earth and cedar complexity from bottle age.