Louis Jadot: Beaune Clos des Ursules 1915-2022

BY NEAL MARTIN | OCTOBER 28, 2026

Back in the mists of time — 2009, to be exact — I was lucky enough to attend a once-in-a-lifetime tasting to celebrate Louis Jadot's 150th anniversary, a soirée bejewelled with dusty bottles dating back to the mid-nineteenth century. Seventeen years later, Jadot put up the bunting and blew up the party balloons again to mark the bicentennial of the very first parcel Jadot purchased, Clos des Ursules.

One aspect of this event that I appreciated was the opportunity to visit the vineyard and connect wine with place, place with wine. At the headquarters on the outskirts of Beaune, attendees were marshalled onto minibuses and driven to the nearby parcel where Frédéric Barnier stood amongst the vines to explain the lie of the land.

At left, Jean-Marc Pandraud, who oversees all vineyards under the Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot label. At right, Winemaker Frédéric Barnier.

History

The name of the Clos des Ursules climat derives from the Convent of St. Ursula, known as Les Ursulines, founded in 1586 before establishing itself in Beaune in the seventeenth century. Located in what is now the town hall, the order acquired the parcel in 1656 and oversaw its viticulture for over two centuries, accreting some 24 hectares in total through benevolent donations. The family of Louis Jadot’s wife bought the land in 1826, before Jadot was founded in 1859. One can assume fruit was sold to Burgundy merchants until that aforementioned year and thereafter Jadot vinified the fruit. It should be pointed out that this parcel remains the property of the Jadot family rather than the company, Domaine Louis Jadot. This is why Clos des Ursules is one of a handful of cuvées labelled “Héritiers Louis Jadot” and explains why various family members attended and spoke at this event.

The 1.25-hectare parcel is located in the climat of Vignes Franches, whose name derives from the fact that its owners were exempt from tax for many years. Clos des Ursules was awarded its own separate Premier Cru status in 2011 — in a sense, a Premier Cru twice over. As the name implies, it is enclosed by a stone wall with a restored cabotte within its boundary so that workers could shelter during the day. The parcel sits midway up the incline with an east-facing exposure on shallow soils, around 60 centimetres deep before hitting the limestone bedrock. The oldest vines date to the 1950s, joined by vines replanted in 1963 and 1975 for the upper and lower stretches, respectively. Today there is a mixture of massal selection vines and clones. As is traditional for Jadot’s reds, the fruit is completely destemmed and undergoes a relatively long three-week maceration, aged in around 30% new French oak until malolactic fermentation. The wine is then racked at around eight or nine months, with the remainder of the élevage completed in foudres.

The Wines

Like the tasting of the Bouchard Père’s Beaune Marconnets, this comprehensive vertical reinforced the longevity built into the DNA of Clos des Ursules. A cursory glance at the column of scores that span over a century of vintages reveals consistency throughout different eras, with only three that fell below standards: an oxidized 1982, a rather stolid 1988 and, most surprisingly, a 2010 that felt a little over-extracted.

Otherwise, I would be happy to find most of these vintages on my table. Even the 1976, a notoriously hot season like the one that was unfolding in Burgundy at the time of this tasting, just about passes muster. Among the recent vintages, the 2020 Beaune Clos des Ursules is opulent yet composed, displaying a little more raciness when compared to the 2022. The 2015 Clos des Ursules also demonstrates the quality of the wines under Frédéric Barnier, with wonderful terroir expressed on the nose, pliant tannins and an irresistible silky texture.

Frédéric Barnier and Jacques Lardière, Jadot winemakers past and present.

It was a pleasure to see former winemaker Jacques Lardière enjoying a warm reception. He seems to have hardly aged since he retired following the 2012 vintage. The 2005 Clos des Ursules is another that you could drink now, though it deserves time in the cellar to shave off some of its rusticity. The six vintages from the 1990s showed well, with only the 1998 slightly underwhelming on the palate. Unsurprisingly, the 1985 Clos des Ursules has a beguiling transparency and conveys tenderness on the finish. The previous decade was always going to be up and down, yet both the 1978 and 1979 Clos des Ursules continue to show splendidly, especially the former with its touch of chlorophyll on the nose and ferrous finish. Maybe I expected more from the 1966 Clos des Ursules, but the 1964 compensated with entrancing purity of fruit and precision on the close.

Moving back to the ancient vintages, the 1959 is excellent. I’m smitten by the slight meatiness on the finish. Two bottles were being poured per vintage, and our 1952 Clos des Ursules was rather musty. I tasted a better example at the neighbouring table. Among the oldest vintages, the 1937 Clos des Ursules is dark in colour, stocky yet pure with a saline finish. The 1929 Clos des Ursules is even better, much more floral and transparent, tensile, with an extraordinarily long finish. It was interesting to taste the 1926 Clos des Ursules, having just tasted the Beaune Marconnets a couple of weeks earlier. Bouchard Père’s was more magical, the Clos des Ursules marginally faded by time.

One that has not faded with the passing years is the seemingly immortal 1915 Beaune Clos des Ursules. I mean, stop the clocks. Literally. I have encountered only three or four Burgundies from this vintage, but every bottle seems to exist on a different ethereal plane to anything else. The final wine poured, the 1915 is blessed with such vivacity and ineffable aromatic complexity that I found difficulty equating it with the preceding vintages. The tannins are so lace-like, the red fruit extraordinarily fresh and vital. This will be the last tasting note you will see apropos the 1915 because, as Barnier mentioned, only three bottles remain in their reserves. “When it gets down to that number, we will not open more bottles,” he warned as I finished the dregs.

Final Thoughts

This tasting reaffirmed the calibre of Jadot’s Beaune Clos des Ursules. Of course, provenance underlies the performances of these bottles and, as I have stated several times, is the most critical factor. These wines provided more evidence as to how Beaune’s finest vineyards are unfairly underrated by cognoscenti whose measure of a Pinot Noir is dictated by market value. Undoubtedly, Clos des Ursules is a parcel that can manifest a slightly more sensual, opulent Beaune with a proclivity to mature over long periods of time.

The final word must go to that 1915. Its haunting beauty will live forever in my memory.

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