Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Aux Cras is a relatively new addition to the Jadot portfolio which debuted with the 2012 vintage, but it is already on the path to establishing its status as one of the house's very finest Beaune premier crus. A complex bouquet of dark red and black cherry, warm spice, woodsmoke and rich soil is followed by a palate of impressive depth, intensity and energy with a core of rich, supple tannins.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Beaune 1er Cru Aux Cras, under the Domaine Gagey label, has a soft, mellow and quite seductive bouquet with raspberry, crushed strawberry and hints of blood orange. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly chewy tannin, good weight in the mouth with quite a dense, almost "solid" finish that needs to muster more finesse as it ages. I am sure it will, a wine of substance at present, it should mature into a very capable Beaune Aux Cras.
Range: 90-92
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
A classic source of exceptional Chardonnay as well as Pinot Noir, the Côte de Beaune makes up the southern half of the Côte d’Or. Its principal wine-producing villages are Pernand-Vergelesses, Aloxe-Corton, Beaune, Pommard, Volnay, Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet.
The area is named for its own important town of Beaune, which is essentially the center of the Burgundy wine business and where many negociants center their work. Hospices de Beaune, the annual wine auction, is based here as well.