I finally drank a bottle of a Jamet Cote-Rotie after reading so much about it for years. It was a 2009 and despite being slightly shy in terms of aromas, the nose kept evolving and the acidity was unbelievable for a young Cote-Rotie which made it so drinkable. The balance achieved in a hot year is remarkable as well, great ripeness without any overextraction or heat on the palate (only 12.5% alcohol!). Really lived up to their hype of producing the purest/most classic expression of Syrah in Cote-Rotie after Gentaz.
Now to my question, I understand that since the 2010 or 2011 vintage, Jean-Luc’s name is no longer on the label and the brothers have gone their own separate ways. Anyone knows what happened to the parcels of vines belonged to the Jamet family? As the whole blending process from all the parcels is what defines Jamet’s wines, has Jean-Luc’s departure affected the breadth of fruits available to Jean-Paul hence the quality in recent vintages? Also, has anyone seen or tasted wines made solely by Jean-Luc as according to Wine Cellar Insider: "Jean-Luc Jamet will be creating his own domaine and using fruit with the families vines in their Lancement lieux-dit. Jean-Paul Jamet is said to be remaining with the property."
Please contribute to this discussion if you have knowledge about the situation of the two brothers now. Thanks a lot!
I don’t know any details here but I believe both brothers are married and both wives are involved in the operation. That is a recipe for problems at some point.
When we visited the winery back in 2011, Corinne was the one who met and tasted with us and she explained that Jean-Luc was currently out of town then as he does most of the marketing and trade shows attendance, while her husband Jean-Paul is almost in the vineyards 100% of the time; whle she took care of the day-to-day office operations. As far as I can tell from what I’ve read, it’s Jean-Paul who also makes the primary decisions on the final blending that will make their flagship Cote Rotie. Nothing was mentioned about whether there was anyone else that’s working in the business.
In any case, as far as I can tell from various internet tidbits about the split, while the Domaine owned 8 hectares, Jean-Paul and Corinne will continue to run the Domaine but with 7 hectares of the vineyards and which will still comprises of the 17 lieu dits in 25 parcels that are scattered all over Cote Rotie.
Nope, have not come upon Jean-Luc’s new product. But, I will look forward to trying it once something comes out of it.
“In 2013, Jamet announced a change in the direction of the domaine. The Jamet family announced the brothers are going their own separate ways in Cote Rotie. Jean-Luc Jamet will be creating his own domaine and using fruit with the families vines in their Lancement lieux-dit. Jean-Paul Jamet is said to be remaining with the property and will continue making the wine. The 2012 and then 2013 Cote Brune wines are labeled Domaine de Jean-Paul & Corinne Jamet Cote Rotie Cote Brune.”
–Learn about Domaine Jamet Cote Rotie Rhone Wine, Complete Guide
“There are some soap-operaesque rumors surrounding Jean-Luc’s absence from the Domaine. In 2013 some say that he split from Jean-Paul and Corinne (Jean-Paul’s wife), taking with him some vineyard parcels. I didn’t bring up this touchy subject with Corinne on my visit but she did state that she and her husband only run 7 hectares in Côte-Rôtie. Whether Jean-Luc runs the missing hectare is a mystery.”
–Accueil - French Morning US