2014 was a busy and interesting year for Bolaffi auctions. One highlight was the sale of rare and fine wines in collaboration with Slow Food Editore. It was a great success also thanks to the high quality of the wines that whet the interest of restaurateurs, wine lovers and wine merchants from all over the world. The fine, rare wines we had the honour of selling included a wonderful selection of those of Henri Jayer.

While many in the general public probably won’t have heard of Jayer, he represents something of an institution in the wine world, and is considered by some to be the father of Burgundy and pinot noir. A man with an original and charming character, he revolutionized winemaking in the most prestigious part of France. Born in Vosne Romanée in 1922, Henri began working in his family’s vineyards when he was twenty years old; he studied the art of wine-making at the faculty of Dijon and managed the Domaine Méo-Camuzet from 1945 to 1988. At the same time he continued to farm his own parcels: Echézeaux, Richebourg and Vosne Romanée Cros-Parantoux. With great intuition and professional competence, Jayer was one of the first advocates, and could probably be considered the champion of terroir, the perfect balance between land, vineyard and climate, which makes this type of wine stand out from the crowd. He was a firm believer in the value of work done in the vineyard first and foremost rather than in the wine cellar, and stressed the importance of precise harvesting schedules to avoid over-mature grapes. He was also the first to use new wood. He was a man with extraordinary knowledge of the land and how to farm it, an unbeatable judge of the microclimate in each and every vineyard, a forerunner and innovator in winemaking techniques, and also invented the cold maceration or cryomaceration technique. This process keeps the skins and the crushed grapes in contact at very low temperatures enhancing the primary flavours of the grape found in the skin. The low temperature prevents alcoholic fermentation, and if the contact is kept to within certain limits this makes it possible to produce very little tannin and a limited number of polyphenols. With this still controversial method, one can produce a wine with a more fruity flavour and colour, greater aromatic complexity and a less aggressive tannin content.

He was particularly famous for his Premier Cru Cros-Parantoux wines, produced in a tiny vineyard (of just one hectare) situated in the Vosne-Romanée highlands, above the famous Grand Cru Richebourg. At the time this vineyard was overlooked by many as it was considered too problematic to work to merit the results that could be obtained. The soil is thinner than in the lower vineyards, and the land is poor and cold, consisting of a thin layer of calcareous clay resting on a rock bed. The vineyard has a slightly colder microclimate than others in the vicinity as it faces east and cold winds are funnelled through the valley. Abundant sunlight helps the grape mature, while cold air currents slow the process to guarantee the necessary acidity to produce a balanced wine well suited to ageing. It didn’t take long for Henri Jayer to realise that these climatic conditions would give his wines the freshness and natural acidity he was looking for, so he started producing a wine that was destined to become exemplary. The relatively low fertility and the lack of water in these soils make Cros Parantoux ideal for wine-growing, encouraging the roots to grow deep into the cracks in the rock, with a reduction in both vigour and yield. Therefore the grapes are of a particularly high quality, and as a consequence make an excellent wine. In 1995 his vineyards were incorporated into his nephew Emmanuel Rouget’s lands, but Henri Jayer continued to work there until 2001. When he died in 2006 his wines, which were already much sought-after considering the high quality and limited production (of around 3,500 bottles/year), became real mementos selling for vertiginous prices. His Richebourg ousted Romanée Conti and is currently considered the most expensive wine in the world, selling for an average price of around 10,000 euros/bottle. On 14 November Bolaffi auctioned eight bottles and two magnums of 1982, 1983 and 1987 vintage Echezeaux, Vosne-Romanée Cros Parantoux and Richebourg from Luigi Veronelli’s legendary wine cellar. The top lot was a 1983 vintage Richebourg with a starting price of 5,000 euros which sold for 7,500.

By Luisa Bianconi