Winemaker Notes
A full-bodied, complex wine, this Premier Cru has a broad array of aromas and fine expression of terroir as well as impressive length on the palate. It will develop for more than 10 years in the bottle or up to 40 in great vintages.
Serve with game, meats, mushroom dishes and strong cheeses.
Professional Ratings
-
Jasper Morris
A medium concentrated ruby purple with a delightful elegance on the nose. A little bit of oak is apparent, but not more than the wine merits. Clean, understated, balanced, quite long. I feel all the elements of the vineyard have been harnessed here, delicacy with intensity and certainly persistence.
-
Vinous
The 2020 Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Saint-Jacques ler Cru has a very endearing nose: red cherries, wild strawberries, undergrowth and Italian herbs, completely entrancing. This shows lovely delineation, terroir expression and a touch of eucalyptus that develops with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with fleshy, ripe red fruit. The oak here reminds me of Jadot. There are traces of orange pith, black pepper and sage. It may be a little chewy right on the finish.
-
Decanter
At this stage of its evolution, this demonstrates lush dark plum and cassis fruit, with floral notes plus hints of smoke and spice. The texture is tannic and firm, with an impressive level of extract and a lingering, beautiful persistence on the finish. Jadot's hectare of the Clos St-Jacques, acquired in 1985 from the Clair-Daü family, has long been one of the jewels of its estate. It is located at the centre of the Clos, producing a wine of tremendous refinement and elegance. Jadot destems the grapes and ferments gently before ageing in cask (30% new).
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos Saint-Jacques (Domaine Louis Jadot) is shaping up brilliantly, wafting from the glass with aromas of raspberries and plums mingled with sweet spices, orange rind and peonies. Medium to full-bodied, velvety and concentrated, it's bright and precise, with a layered core of fruit and a long, penetrating finish.
Barrel Sample: 93-95 -
Wine Enthusiast
High aromatic tones of violet and rose, under ripe cherry, tangerine skin, white peach, white flowers, fresh mushrooms and green peppercorn combine, with an elegant palate of concentrated wild strawberry, plum and black cherries. The palateis fresh, salinic with a long, firm stone-clove finish.
-
Wine Spectator
A bright, well-defined red, this showcases cherry, raspberry and currant flavors shaded by earth and spice accents. Slim and fused to a taut structure, this is underlined by a ray of stony minerality. Overall, this has a cool, limestone austerity, with spice notes prevailing on the finish.
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.”
This small village is home to the Grands Crus in the farthest northerly stretches of Côte de Nuits and is famous for some of the deepest and firmest Burgundian Pinot Noir.
Gevrey boasts nine Grands Crus, the best of which are arguably Le Chambertin and Chambertin-Clos de Bèze. As with all of the fragmented vineyards of Burgundy, it isn’t easy to differentiate between the two, which are situated adjacent with Clos de Bèze slightly further up the hill than Le Chambertin. Clos de Bèze has a shallower soil and if you’re really counting, may produce wines less intense but more likely to charm. Some compare Le Chambertin in both power and plentitude only to the prized Romanée-Conti Grand Cru farther south in Vosne-Romanée.
Two other Grands Crus vineyards, Mazis-Chambertin (also written Mazy-) and Latricières-Chambertin command almost as much regard as Le Chambertin and Chambertin-Clos de Bèze. The upper part of Mazy, called Les Mazis Haut is the best and Latricières-Chambertin offers an abundance of juicy fruit and a silky texture in the warmer vintages.
Other Grands Crus are Ruchottes-Chambertin, Charmes-Chambertin, Mazoyères-Chambertin, Griotte-Chambertin and Chapelle-Chambertin.
The most respected Pinot Noir wines from Gevrey-Chambertin are robust and powerful but at the same time, velvety and expressive: black fruit, black liquorice and chocolate come into play. After some time in the bottle, the wines are harmonious with bright and sometimes candied fruit, and aromas of musk, truffle and forest floor. These have staying power.