After Veronique Drouhin concluded her trio of 2006 whites, Jacques Lardière, the Technical Director at Maison Louis Jadot briskly took over. The 3 wines he had to present were Beaune 1er Cru "Clos des Ursules" 2002, Corton Pugets 2002, and Charmes-Chambertin 2002. In stark contrast to the even-spoken well-paced Veronique, Jacques was near incomprehensible - with heavy French accent, words shooting out as if from a machine gun, I saw a prototypical mad scientist, passionate about Burgundy, the terroir, and his wines, taking himself (rather than the audience) on a journey that was more amusing (thanks to his presentation style) than informative (since it was hard to follow). I caught something about "grand cru being aristocratic vin, washing over my every organ". Jacques went on and on, forgetting that we had wines in front of us that he should really be talking about. But finally someone (Allen?) reminded him - and so we came to "Clos des Ursules".

Allen Meadows was an excellent host, keeping Jacques more or less on track and on time, and I was happy to get an opportunity to finally meet Mr. Burghound in person. All in all, though neither Joseph Drouhin nor Louis Jadot carry the stratospheric cult status associated with certain top Burgundy houses (DRC, Leroy, Leflaive...), they undoubtedly have grand wines of great charm and elegance that don't hit your pocket-book like a Sports Illustrated super-model. And even though one has to kiss many frogs before finding the princess, both "Sécher" (Drouhin) and "Clos des Ursules" (Jadot) proved on that sunny Saturday morning in March - the princesses are out there, so keep on searching!
...To be continued here.
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