89-91
David Schildknecht - Wine Advocate
The Jadot 2005 Charmes-Chambertin epitomizes the
dark, almost somber side of the vintage, which seems somewhat
out of character for this site. A bitter side to black cherry
fruit and low-toned meatiness characterize both the nose and palate,
with a firm chalkiness and tactile notes of pungent brown spice
informing a bitter-sweet and rather austere finish. But there
is no denying the sheer intensity or length on display , and one
would have to revisit only after 3-5 years, I suspect, to see
whether more complexity and finesse had developed. This represents
a blend of wine from three different sources, and possibly they
have simply been reluctant to cohabitate. Jacques Lardiere has
once again presided over a collection for the most part not intended
to flatter in its youth, but rather to achieve an eventual balance
of fruit acidity with (in this instance frequently quite prominent)
tannin. Prolonged post-fermentative extraction promoted a formidably-structured
group of wines, which Lardiere expressed no hurry about bottling.
Certain of these – particularly from the Cote de Beaune
– displayed a slightly drying finishing astringency or simply
an austere lack of charm to match their concentration, traits
Lardiere suggested might be traceable to drought stress in those
sites. A brief July rain that reached the Cote de Nuits but not
the Cote de Beaune was critical, he asserts, and all of Jadot’s
vines in the northern Cote were picked before the harvest in the
south commenced.
