Beaune 1er Cru Celebration, Louis Jadot 2018

Opening in the glass with aromas of sweet berries, cherries and plums framed by a deft application of toasty new oak, the 2018 Beaune 1er Cru Célébration (Maison Louis Jadot) is medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, with a fleshy core of fruit structured around rich tannins and succulent acids. It's a hearty, generous wine that should evolve nicely in the cellar. As usual, it's a blend of more than a dozen Beaune premiers crus.

**Note: based on the concept of the 2009 Anniversary cuvée to celebrate Jadot's 150th year; this is to say that, in the case of the 2018 version, 16 different Beaune 1ers are combined to create a blend; it is only produced in top vintages, the last being the 2015**This is definitely a child of its vintage as the black cherry, cassis and warm earth suffused nose is quite ripe yet not roasted or lacking in freshness. The opulently rich medium-bodied flavors possess a decidedly suave, round and velvet-textured texture with enough underlying acidity to avoid any sense of undue weight on the enveloping finish that begins to tighten up as it sits on the palate. This is the point where you begin to notice the underlying structure as the richness of the mid-palate essentially hides them. The 2018 Célébration is one of those wines that could easily be enjoyed now (serve it on the cooler side) or held for up to a decade with good results.