| Louis Jadot Chairman interviewed by Sommelier India | | | | By: Shiv Singh |  Page 1 of 3 next >> |
Pierre Henry Gagey of Louis Jadot was in Delhi recently to promote his wines. Louis Jadot is one of the five largest Burgundy wine producers. Louis Jardot wines are available in most five star hotels and select restaurants across India. Read excerpts from an exclusive interview that he conducted with Sommelier India.
Pierre-Henry Gagey was born in Beaune, France in 1955. He became President of Maison Louis Jadot in 1991 after working as assistant MD under his father, André Gagey, one of the most respected figures in the Burgundian wine trade. In India recently with his wife, Mr Gagey spoke to Sommelier India in an exclusive interview. Excerpts from the wide-ranging interview are given below:
Can you tell us what makes Burgundy such a great wine producing region?
We have been producing wine in Burgundy for around 2000 years. Most probably because the Pinot Noir grape was growing wild in Burgundy 2000 years ago. When we were invaded in France by the Romans, they came with the knowledge of how to produce wine. So they taught us how to look after the vineyards, and because the Pinot Noir was there, wild, it became the variety of grape that people started to use.
At the beginning, of course, the quality of wine was very different from what it is today. It was only one thousand years later, when the monks opened many convents in Burgundy that we really started to produce wines of quality because the monks realized that instead of planting vineyards in the easy area, the flat area, where the soil was very rich, to produce wines of quality it was much better to plant the vineyards on the slopes where it was not easy to look after. But where it was so rocky and difficult that instead of having big bunches we began to produce very small berries, very small bunches which resulted in wines of delicacy, elegance and finesse. So quality Burgundy, most probably, started around 900 or one thousand years ago.
So small grapes are better for making wine?
You need small grapes and small berries, especially for Pinot Noir. You need to have a vineyard that does not feel too comfortable. The difficulty produces character, complexity and personality.
The reason why we can produce that wine today is because we have the harmony between the grape, (Pinot Noir, Chardonnay) the weather and the soil. Our job as winemaker and producer is to try to respect this harmony and to bring out through our wine the expression of what we call terroir. The word terroir is used by many, many people – probably too much right now. But it is our good luck that we have this terroir in Burgundy. And it is our responsibility to keep that and to be very careful not to be tempted to use technology – but to try the opposite and keep to the original, which has made Burgundy famous.
What is Maison Louis Jadot’s place in the region and who was Louis Jadot?
Louis Jadot came from a well known Belguim family that traded coal for wine in the 18th century. Maison Louis Jadot started very small in 1859. In 1954 my father joined Jadot. My mother is also from Burgundy. The family used to own a convent. I joined the company in 1985. And from 1859 to 1985 we have been delivering wine mostly in France but we have now grown the business abroad and 90% of our wines are exported to places where people understand quality and are willing to pay more for the same name. In 1985 Madame Jadot who was still owned the company sold her shares to Mr Kopf of Korbrand who is also our US importer through their company, while 50% of the shares are with our English importer and 20% are in Japan. Our idea is not to grow too fast but to consolidate in Burgundy and maintain quality.
| 
Wine Related Articles 
