Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This full, generously textured wine comes from one of the lesser-known of the Beaune premier crus. Its structure and juicy berry fruits are ripe and concentrated, with a smoky touch at the end. Drink from 2024.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Beaune 1er Cru Aux Cras (Domaine Gagey) unfurls in the glass with aromas of sweet berry fruit, raw cocoa and candied peel. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, satiny and supple, with juicy acids, attractive purity and an elegant sense of completeness. In 2015 and 2016, I felt that this bottling—from a parcel of sélection massale Pinot Noir purchased from the erstwhile Château de Chorey—rivaled the Clos des Ursules; in 2017, that isn't the case, but it remains one of the finest Beaunes in the Jadot portfolio.
Range: 90-92 -
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The soft touch of Beaune, some of the best traits of wines from this area, are their velvety and moderate tannins. The 2017 Louis Jadot Beaune Aux Cras 1er Cru Domaine Gagey exhibits lovely balance and style. TASTING NOTES: This wine is exquisite and elegant. Its aromas and flavors of red to black fruit, coupled with its crisp acidity should pair nicely with grilled skin-on chicken thighs, wild mushroom over a bed of jasmine rice. (Tasted: January 22, 2019, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Spectator
Macerated cherry and strawberry fruit is accented by leafy underbrush notes in this sinewy red. The firm structure sets the pace for the austere finish. Best from 2022 through 2033.
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.”
While the city represents the epicenter of wine production in Burgundy, the term, “Beaune” also refers to the specific sub-appellation of the greater Côte de Beaune, whose vineyards climb up the pastoral slopes that border the city to its west. Originally founded as a Roman camp by Julius Caesar, the city of Beaune eventually became the seat of the dukes of Burgundy until the 13th century. Today it is home to top négociants such as Louis Jadot, Joseph Drouhin, Louis Latour, and Bouchard Père et Fils.
The appellation, dominated by Pinot Noir plantings, represents a lovely and charming place to begin to understand red Burgundy. Its sandy soils create light and supple, floral driven Pinot Noir. These wines are designed to be enjoyed within five to 10 years. The vineyards of Beaune span a broad swath of Premier Crus from Savigny-lès-Beaune to its border with Pommard.
Chardonnay acreage here has been increasing here in the more recent years.