After 31 years running Burgundy powerhouse Maison Louis Jadot, Pierre-Henry Gagey is stepping down as president. Before pulling back from day-to-day operations, Gagey appeared once more at the Wine Experience, with both an explanation and an exhortation—a reflection on the reasons for Burgundy’s success and inspiration for those shepherding the wine region (or others) into the future.
Gagey joined Louis Jadot in 1985 while it was headed by his father, André, who also ran the firm for three decades; that same year it was purchased by its U.S. importer, Kobrand. He helped develop it into “one of the most important houses in Burgundy,” explained senior editor and Burgundy taster Bruce Sanderson, one that not only buys grapes and wines for numerous red and white Burgundy bottlings, but also owns around 500 acres of vineyards today. During Pierre-Henry’s successful tenure, Sanderson noted, Burgundy has changed a lot.
Born and raised in Burgundy, Gagey quipped, “I have had Louis Jadot wine in my blood since I was born. And that’s the reason why I am in front of you at 67 years old and in quite good form.”
The first reason for Burgundy’s success is that its wine industry has been built step by step. “In Burgundy, time is our friend,” said Gagey. “You, in America, you like to run. We, in Burgundy, we like to walk—and walk slowly.” It took centuries, maybe millennia, to define Burgundy: to focus on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, to find the right sites, to delineate the grands and premiers crus from the village appellations.
The second reason, Gagey explained, is that “a deep crisis can also be your friend.” Over 40 years, between 1929 and 1970, Burgundy struggled with wines that were inconsistent in quality, and everyone was losing money. “All of us were in deep trouble. But our parents and grandparents took the right decisions.” The small region could not compete on volume, so “the only thing we can fight for is quality, purity, elegance and delicacy.”
Luck has also been part of Burgundy’s recent success. For the region, climate change “has been a home run during the last 30 years,” with no really bad vintages. “But now it’s enough,” he said of the warming conditions.
Consumers have played a role in Burgundy’s evolution as well, Gagey noted. “Your taste has changed.” Instead of wanting dark, powerful wines, “you now want delicacy and transparency.”
To illustrate Burgundy’s purity, he served the 2017 vintage from one of Louis Jadot’s flagship domaines, Corton Pougets Domaine des Héritiers (94 points, $130 on release), representing a grand cru site that Jadot has owned for 120 years. “God was very nice with us” in 2017, he said; sunny weather resulted in a juicy, concentrated red that can be enjoyed now and for another 15 years.
Looking ahead, Gagey stressed the importance of organic viticulture, education, travel, open-mindedness and sticking together as a community.
Gagey, whose son Thibault works at Louis Jadot, wants younger generations in wine to understand “when you have in your hands something that has been given to you, built by your ancestors, you have a duty to keep it and to make it better for your children, which means that you have to stay humble.” That means already-expensive Burgundy prices must not keep rising sky-high. “We must not be spoiled by money.”
Our children “must keep going into the vineyard, prune the vineyard, go on the tractor and be involved in the winemaking. This is what we love the most,” Gagey concluded. “Of course, I love to be with you today, but I love better to be back in Burgundy and in our vineyards tomorrow. This is our life.”
