Alcohol: 13.5%
Grape(s): 100% Pinot Noir
Location: Morey-Saint-Denis, Cotes de Nuits, Burgundy, France
Tasting Notes: The wine opens with inviting aromas of leather, earthy tones, vanilla, and a touch of subtle spice. On the palate, it reveals layered red fruit flavors—cherry and raspberry—complemented by refined tannins and a silky texture that glides effortlessly. The finish is long and elegant, showcasing a harmonious balance between vibrant fruit and well-integrated oak.
Food pairing: This wine pairs beautifully with roast white meats, braised dishes, meaty fish, red sauce pasta, duck, veal, steak, and hard cheeses.
Winery Story: The domaine dates to 1962 with Henri Jouan, father of current winemaker Philippe. For years Henri sold fruit to Drouhin (some still is), though domaine-bottling has increasingly become the norm. But still, the domaine is tiny. 3 hectares, that’s it.
Henri was a lifelong friend of the legendary Jacky Truchot, though Jouan’s wines have not (yet!) enjoyed the same frenzied demand Jacky’s wines have earned. Jacky’s wines were often ethereal, sometimes just frankly light, and at times as beautiful as Burgundy can be. And yet despite also making very pure wine, Jouan’s are not ‘elegant’ in the way Jacky’s wines are. Yes, the fruit is often red-spectrumed and the wines lifted, but these are wines above all marked by old-vine sap, dense structures, and deep, penetrating flavors. Truchot and Jouan share the iconic Morey premier cru Clos Sorbé, and a side-by-side clearly illuminates these stylistic differences, as if the same light were refracted through two prisms. Both are, or at least can be, sublime.
Peter Weygandt imported Truchot’s wines for many years until his last vintage in 2005, and since 2010 has also been Jouan’s exclusive US importer. With respect to stylistic (dis)similarities, Peter shares the view that the Jouan wines are obviously denser and more deliberately crafted for long aging. He thought-provokingly suggests Roumier and Charles Rousseau-era wines as stylistic correllaries. He adds, and I wholeheartedly agree, that Philippe is improving every year.
While these are wines with expressive and sophisticated fruit they present more as wines ‘of the earth.’ They have a humble, grounded feeling to them; they are not ‘perfect,’ nor are they rendered with that goal in mind (more about which below). And they handsomely repay cellaring, an especially attractive reality given the relatively modest cost of admission here.
