Winemaker Notes
#85 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2021
A full, firm, rich wine, Clos des Ursules has aromas of earth and red fruit and perfectly balances elegance and power. It will develop in the bottle for 10 to 15 years.
Serve with delicate meat dishes or cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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The Somm Journal
I’m getting a lot of beautiful red fruit, elegant red currant, red cherries, [and] also a little bit of sanguine character, a wet metal like you’ve bit your tongue, a little bloody. It’s very pointed and expressive. Brilliant aromas of summer cherry and a rose garden precede vivid glossiness on the palate, where mocha-tinged earthiness reveals white pepper and cinnamon-covered raspberry. There’s an intensity midway that creates tension while ushering in a juicy flow of spiced pomegranate on the finish.
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Tasting Panel
Brilliant aromas of summer cherry and a rose garden precede vivid glossiness on the palate, where mocha-tinged earthiness reveals white pepper and cinnamon-covered raspberry. There’s an intensity midway that creates tension while ushering in a juicy flow of spiced pomegranate on the finish.
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James Suckling
A tight, savory red with ripe strawberry, cherry and raspberry character. Some chocolate and hazelnut undertones. It’s full-bodied and layered with chewy tannins and a flavorful finish. White pepper just at the end. Better after 2022.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Ursules (Domaine des Héritiers Jadot) is showing very well in bottle, unwinding in the glass with a pretty but youthfully reserved bouquet of sweet red berries, plums and cassis, mingled with hints of dark chocolate, warm spices and coniferous forest floor. Medium to full-bodied, supple and enveloping, it's elegant—even polished—with a succulent core of fruit, lively acids and a nicely defined finish. At maturity—which will demand a decade's patience, even if this can be approached sooner—this will be an especially sumptuous Clos des Ursules.
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Wine Spectator
A lithe, well-defined red, exhibiting cherry, raspberry, earth and spice aromas and flavors. It's balanced and long, with the promise of more charm in 2-3 years. Best from 2024 through 2038.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot Beaune Clos des Ursules shows excellent class and persistence. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers satisfaction on the palate, with its depth and black fruit/forest floor flavors. Pair it with rosemary and garlic-infused roast leg of lamb. (Tasted: February 3, 2020, San Francisco, CA)
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.