Dinner with Pierre-Henri Gagey of Louis Jadot

Chez Patrick Restaurant, 26 Peel Street, Central, Hong Kong
Tasted Sunday, October 30, 2011 by Goldstone with 475 views

Introduction

A really relaxed and enjoyable evening with the affable Pierre-Henri Gagey, CEO of Louis Jadot. The guys at ASC, the Jadot distributor, very kindly provided all the wines and Chef Patrick delivered a lovely Burgundy-themed dinner that paired really well with the wines.

Flight 1 - Aperitif and Canapes (1 Note)

  • 2008 J.A. Ferret Pouilly-Fuissé Les Perrières Tête de Cru 90 Points

    France, Burgundy, Mâconnais, Pouilly-Fuissé

    Light green-gold colour. Nose is complex: several types of hazelnut.....alluring toasty oak. Palate is quite immpressive with some weight and well-developed secondary character of smoke, oak, charcoal, hazelnut....much more like a Mersault in terms of its weight and level of attack....minerality, good acidic balance and citrus freshness. Medium length. Excellent, really enjoyable and more-ish both as an aperitif and to accompany the Lobster Tail and Foie Gras alongside the Mersault Genevieres 1er Cru 2007, which was overshadowed by it. Pierre-Henri remarked that they had only bought the vineyard 4 years ago.

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Flight 2 - Lobster Tail Stuffed with Home-Made Foie Gras and Seaweed Leaves (1 Note)

Delicious....Patrick does this thing with seaweed and his Foie Gras terrine that is really quite unique. Interestingly, the Pouilly-Fuisse had the power to not be overwhelmed by the Foie Gras.

  • 2007 Louis Jadot Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières Domaine Louis Jadot 89 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

    Medium gold colour...looks much older than a 2007. Nose is restrained but is mainly melted salty butter and hazelnuts fresh-peeled from the bush. Palate is a sharp acidic fresh attack, then quickly into light honeycomb then back into bright citric freshness. This is all the high tones end of the piano. Light and fresh with some resonance on the finish. Very well matched with the Home Smoked Veal Fillet Tartar, which brought out a bit more of its character. Needs more time.

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Flight 3 - Home-Smoked Veal Fillet Tartar with a Yellow Lemon and Vanilla Dressing, Creamy Grainy Mustard Sauce and Green Apple (1 Note)

This was the dish of the night for me.....quite exquisite and went beautifully in different ways with each of the three white wines.

  • 2003 Louis Jadot Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet 94 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

    Medium bronze-gold colour. Gosh!....the nose....alluring faint honeysuckle....you have to chase after it...chimeric..light and elusive...but with such a power that it has a resonance on the nose, which is extremely rare to encounter. Palate is honeyed, very round, crushed rocks, English summer evening honeysuckle and some warm nettles on the back end. Lovely rounded and rich mouthfeel but very tight and light in the middle and a resonance that follows from the nose to the first taste and then straight through to the finale all rolled into one. Wow.....this has enormous resonance and length that just keeps reverberating on and on inside the head. Amazing that it is so light relative to the incredibly hot year, which Pierre-Henri explained was bacause they made a bold decision to turn off the malolactic fermentation in order to balance the heat. Interestingly, the production is so small that this was the first time he had drank it and he was clearly a happy man. Stunning!

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Flight 4 - Confit Beef Cheek on a Rich Red Wine Sauce, Snow Peas and Smoked Bacon Creme Brulee (1 Note)

The fun here was to drink the Criots Batard-Montrachet with the Smoked Bacon Creme Brulee.....gorgeous!

  • 1999 Louis Jadot Corton-Pougets Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot 87 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru

    Very attractive bright, fresh translucent to semi-transparent raspberry-red colour. Nose is young, fairly tight, rich ripe fresh supermarket strawberries, some woodland wild strawberries too, fruit-stained box-wood. Palate is high-pitched and a bit dry in the middle. Hints of resonance on the back end but rather tannic and is too young to really enjoy at the moment - even the rich Confit Beef Cheek and Smoked Bacon Creme Brulee couldn't bring it out of its shell - but it could be great in 3-5 years or more.

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Flight 5 - "Plenty French Cheeses" (1 Note)

  • 2008 Louis Jadot Clos Vougeot Domaine Louis Jadot 87 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru

    Faintly purple-tinged transparent blood-red colour. Nose is deep, rich, earthy and lots of strawberries with a hint of cinnamon stick. Palate is rather dilute and acidic although it was much improved by the cheese. Way too young to really enjoy. Pierre-David remarked that he thinks 2008 will become much higher-rated with time - "it is a very pure vintage".

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Closing

Clearly, the Criots Batard-Montrachet stole my heart..... I drank it with every course.

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