Louis Jadot

[joeyz6]

Any comments on Jadot wines? I see them everywhere, which actually makes me a little wary -- Jadot seems awful commercial for a French wine.

[winoweenie]

Joyez6 ALL Frech wines are commercial. Where but for the French would our avaracious winemakers learn what to charge for product? WW

[joeyz6]

Yes, I suppose you're right. But regardless, what do you think of Jadot?

[ddf68]

Jadot is one of the larger producers in Burgundy. They have extensive holdings in many of the villages on the Cote D'Or (sort of the heart of Burgundy) and they also sell wines made from grapes or must from other landowners. Part of the reason you see so much Jadot is that they produce so much wine.

The other part is due to their relationship with their American importer, Kobrand. Historically, Jadot sold lots of wine to Kobrand and had a good business relationship. Eventually, Kobrand bought Jadot. As the owner, Kobrand obviously is in a favored position to get ahold of as much Jadot as they can sell in the U.S.

Jadot is a solid and reliable producer. I think their image suffers somewhat because they are so large and are a negociant (i.e. a producer that buys grapes or must from other growers and then sells the wine as their own). Domaine wines (i.e. those produced and sold by the grape grower) are often better than similar negociant offerings because with domaine wines the person doing the vineyard work is also the person putting his or her name on the bottle.

I don't think that either of these is a valid criticism. Being large does not necessarily mean being bad. Take Mondavi for example. And being a negociant isn't necessarily bad either. If you have high standard and buy only from conscientious producers you can make good negociant wine. And, finally, that you produce negociant wines doesn't really have anything to do with the quality of your domaine offerings.

The bottom line for me is that Jadot is a good to excellent producer. Jadot quality is not at the level of the super expensive prestigious estates, such as Leroy, Jayer, Coche-Dury, etc., but then neither are their prices. Compared to more reasonably priced estates, like Groffier, Girardin, Boillot, etc., Jadot certainly can hold its own.

ddf