100% Chardonnay

Food pairings: Shellfish and oysters, grilled or poached fish, vegetable or seafood tempura, fennel salad, vegetable tarts, white meats and mature cheeses.

Winemaking: After a gentle pressing, part of the juice is fermented in 406-liter Cadus oak barrels and the rest in stainless steel, preserving both richness and freshness. The wine then rests 13 to 15 months on its fine lees before bottling. Since the 2019 vintage Jadot has made its Chablis in its own winery in the heart of the vineyards, so the grapes go straight from the vine to the sorting table. 2021 was a small, frost-reduced crop with a classic, fresh Chablis profile of good energy and purity.

Vineyards and terroir: Les Clos is the best-known and largest of the Chablis Grand Cru vineyards, facing south-southwest on a steady slope from the forested crest down toward the river Serein. Vines were recorded here as early as 1267. Its compact, white Kimmeridgian limestone and calcareous clay give wines with more power and structure than the other Grand Crus, and they reward several years in the cellar.

Family and history: Maison Louis Jadot was founded in Beaune in 1859 by Louis Henry Denis Jadot, and the head of Bacchus on its labels has become the symbol of the house. After making small amounts of Chablis from 2015, under technical director Frédéric Barnier, Jadot built a winery in Chablis that was completed in time for the 2019 harvest, and its range now includes Premier and Grand Crus such as Les Clos.

In the pictures: The Maison Louis Jadot plaque in Beaune (photo: GFreihalter, 2018, CC BY-SA 3.0); and Louis Jadot's wooden fermentation vats in Burgundy (photo: Megan Mallen, 2010, CC BY 2.0).