A Burgundy Icon's Farewell Tour
Celebrating the career of Louis Jadot winemaker Jacques Lardière
Posted: Oct 1, 2012 2:00pm ET
Jacques Lardière, the
winemaker for Maison Louis Jadot is retiring at the end of 2012, after 42
consecutive vintages. He was in New York earlier this year, for a farewell
lunch with some of the wine journalists he has met during his career. We also
sat down for an interview on video.
Lardière is sui generis, one
of a kind.
His unique view of wine is
fascinating. Lardière applies a metaphysical approach to understanding wine. He
describes it as part of a complex organization between nature, earth, energy,
life and death. Burgundy, his canvas, emits very strong vibrations, vibrations
that must first die in the form of must, only to be reborn as wine. As a wine
ages, it becomes transparent, so only its soul, its being, i.e. its climat, is left.
Lardière always believes in
retaining some malic acid, to have the memory of the climat in the finished wine. In more difficult vintages,
when the wines are lighter and more fragile, he will use a greater proportion
of new oak barrels to provide structure. He proposes swirling the glass in both
directions to receive the full complement of aromas and flavors.
It was always a pleasure
and, more important, educational, tasting with Lardière in Jadot's cellars.
It was often a marathon, moving from barrel to barrel, tasting the same wines
from new and older oak, approximating blends, until we had tasted 50 or 60
different whites and reds.
What amazed me was the quality
of the wines, given that Lardière made more than 130 different appellations,
from Bourgogne to Musigny. Many of those came from Jadot's own vineyards;
others from purchased grapes. From his first vintage, in 1970, Lardière oversaw
the growth of Jadot's range from 45,000 cases annually to 850,000 cases today.
During my annual visit to
Burgundy at the beginning of the year, I tasted the 2010s with Lardière and his
successor, Frédéric Barnier; he was as excited to taste the young wines as
always.
In addition to the 2010s, Lardière
and Jadot CEO Pierre-Henry Gagey organized a tasting of wines from each of the
42 vintages vinified by Lardière. You can see some of my notes in the upcoming Nov.
15 issue, along with a profile of Lardière. The complete tasting notes
will be available online in a few weeks.
I
suspect Lardière will continue in some ambassadorial role with Louis Jadot in
the future. I hope to taste with him again soon.
Nice piece about Jacques! I was lucky enough to meet him twice, once for a fairly comprehensive tasting in Beaune, and whether you believe in the mystic side of his winemaking ethos or not, there's no denying that he's been responsible for a phenomenal array of wines over his career.