2023 Beaune Aux Cras

The 2023 Beaune 1er Cru Aux Cras (Domaine Gagey) is another of the highlights chez Jadot this year, wafting from the glass with notes of raspberries, spices, rose petals and licorice, followed by a medium to full-bodied, suave and pure palate that's vibrant and mineral. As readers may remember, this old-vine parcel, formerly belonging to the Château de Chorey, is often one of the stars of this house's Beaune portfolio. Winemaker Frédéric Barnier and his team have once again delivered a strong portfolio chez Jadot. Barnier stressed the importance of sorting and of vigilance during élevage, in particular where acid rot made an appearance, and he didn't hesitate to perform a saignée for cuvées where yields where high. As I've written before, in the cellar, foudres and 500-liter barrels now complement classic 228-liter pièces, a further evolution adapting to warmer, riper vintages. What's more, barrels are now used four rather than three times, meaning the percentage of new oak overall has fallen. A cold room also helps chill down any fruit that's too warm when it enters the winery, something especially important during the warm 2023 harvest. This vintage also marks the third vintage of organic conversion for the Domaine Louis Jadot and the Domaine Gagey.

Vinified in open vats and aged 18 months in oak. Cask sample. Lightish ruby. Bright, sweet-sour red-fruit aroma. Peppery, too. Tight, dry, fine-grained. A little bit lean but long and harmonious, very long.

The 2023 Beaune Cras 1er Cru is more floral than the Grèves: wilted white flowers complement red fruit with a touch of brown spice. There is some reduction here and it becomes more pronounced in the glass. The palate is smooth on the entry and lightly spiced, with polished tannins, well-judged acidity and a touch of white pepper and desiccated orange peel on the controlled and quite lengthy finish. Fine. As tradition dictates, I undertook a comprehensive tasting of around 100 wines from Louis Jadot at the winery in Beaune, divided into two sessions for the white and red. Readers should note that I interviewed head winemaker Frédéric Barnier. "The wines are 0.5% higher in alcohol in 2023 than 2022, but with exactly the same level of acidity," he adds, after I had filmed the video. "Everything from our own vineyards was around 13.5% while some fruit that we bought was over 14%. Many of the vines resisted excessive sugar accumulation. We introduced foudres so there is less oxygen whilst using the same level of SO2. The challenge was the purity of both the reds and the whites. The fermentation was not so easy for the latter, and we stopped the malolactic a little earlier. There is 0.8gm/L malic acid on 2022 and 1.1gm/L in 2023. There is 0.5% more alcohol but with the same acidity as the 2022."