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Ursula Hermacinski Speaks with Martine Saunier on Henri Jayer
January, 2003
| Reviews & Articles |
| Financial Times October 2009 |
| SF Chronicle March 2007 |
| SF Chronicle Oct 2003 |
| Interview on Henri Jayer Jan 2003 |
Martine Saunier began her involvement in the business end of wine in 1969. At that time she worked as a buyer for an importer/distributor in San Francisco. Martine developed her contacts by creating a newsletter and sent it out to friends telling them of her great “finds.” Martine eventually established her own importing company, Martine’s Wines, Inc., in 1979, becoming the first women to do so in that industry. Martine’s Wines is an importer, wholesaler and distributor of Burgundy and Rhône wine estates, such as Domaine Leroy and d’Auvenay, Emmanuel Rouget, Denis Mortet, Domaine Betagna, Pierre Amiot, Domaine Perrot-Minot, Château Rayas, Domaine du Pegau. Mas de Daumas to start the list. When venturing into Spain years ago, Martine’s palate led her to add “Pingus” and “L’Ermita” to her portfolio.
Martine worked with Henri Jayer minutes after they met in San Francisco in 1973. She was one of his first importers and became his exclusive national distributor from 1987 until his retirement in 1995. Martine was born in Paris, and spent summers at her aunt’s estate near Pouilly-Fuissé. Over the many summers in this idyllic setting, Martine became very familiar with harvesting, winemaking and tasting. She moved to the United States in 1964. Martine’s Wines is located in Novato and Martine travels to France at least twice each year to meet with her growers.
How did you come to find the wines of Henri Jayer?
I met Henri in 1973 when he came to San Francisco on a trip organized by Alexis Lichine. I was a young wine buyer at the beginning of my career and was happy to meet all the wine makers I could, especially the Burgundians. I visited France in 1974 and made arrangements to visit Henri. When I arrived, I found that he, like many others, had piles of the 1972 vintage. The vintage had been panned by the critics of the time and Lichine was winding down his business. I tasted the wine and knew there was something special there.
Can you remember that part of the visit?
It’s funny. In 1972 the wine world was just at the beginning of the “clean wine” movement. Everyone I visited seemed so proud of the clean, clear appearance of their wine. Henri was completely the opposite and very vocal about it. He was so “anti-filtration” and I remember him coming across against the grain. From that moment on, Jayer’s strip label “Ce vin n’a pas ete filtre” became a living and breathing idea for me.
So you bought some of the wine?
So I bought as much of the wine as I could possibly afford! As my business began to grow, I bought a little more each year when I visited him to barrel taste. The 1978 vintage put Jayer, and me perhaps, on the map. As soon as the first five cases of ’78 Cros Parantoux arrived, I started sending out samples. There were few critics today to score the wine; it was a different world back then. My first bottle went to the Underground Wine Journal, a very serious publication then, written out of Los Angeles. The wine scored 19.5pts out of a perfect 20pts. I knew I was on the right track. I had an appointment in Los Angeles at Greenblatt’s. As soon as Kevin tasted the wine, he jumped on the phone and called one of his most sophisticated and discriminating collectors, Joe Smith. Joe Smith, president of Capitol Records at the time must have been as hard to get on the phone as anybody in the White House. Smith took the call. When Kevin described to Joe what he had just tasted, and that he had not tasted anything quite like it, Joe Smith said, “buy it all.” It started that way.
What did Jayer have that set him apart from other producers? Does that question have an answer?
Well, one thing I can say, that I’ve come to learn over the many years of working with Henri, is that he has a completely equal passion for working in the vineyard and making the wine. Not only Henri, but his wife as well, has the most unbelievable relationship with the vineyard. It’s different in Burgundy where a winemaker is also the vineyard manager. In 1945, Henri entered into a 10-year contract with the Mme. Noirot-Camuzet. When that happened, Henri’s role was to care for the entire vineyards property. Henri got 50% of the fruit, which he labeled under his own name, and the other 50% went to Mme. Noirot-Camuzet. (In 1959 the old lady Noirot-Camuzet passed away, leaving her estate to her first cousin, Jean Meo. The domaine, therefore, became Meo-Camuzet.) Jayer continued to make wine from the Meo-Camuzet-owned fruit from the vineyards of Richebourg, Vosne-Romanée Les Brulée and Nuit-Meurgèrs. The original 10-year contract extended until 1987. This more or less coincided with Henri’s “retirement” from the relationship in 1988. Jean Meo’s son showed an interest in winemaking, studied oenology and took over the operation. Jayer remained a consultant to the Meo-Camuzet heir, Jean-Nicolas until 1998 although he no longer produced the wines.
What about Jayer’s involvement with Cros Parantoux?
In 1951, Jayer himself was able to buy a small piece of Cros Parantoux, a Vosne-Romanee vineyard, from a Mr. Roblot. Then in 1953, old Mme. Noirot-Camuzet offered another small piece of the vineyard to Henri. Henri had now amassed around 45 hectares of Cros Parantoux. Henri replanted his portion in 1956. In 1970, the sister of Robert Arnoux sold Henri the last available piece of the vineyard. Henri now owned around 72 arrhes of Cros Parantoux. (Meo-Camuzet retains around 29.5 hectares of the vineyard. They are the only two owners of Cros Parantoux.) All these years, Henri had been blending the Cros Parantoux fruit with other vineyards. But in 1976, he created a wine that was about 3/4th from Cros Parantoux, the rest from a very delicious Vosne Romanee Villages fruit. He saw the remarkable quality coming from Cros Parantoux. 1978 marks the first time that Henri bottled a wine exclusively from Cros Parantoux and labeled it as such.
Can you put the 1978 Cros Parantoux into a comparative context?
It really is a benchmark. When I first met Mme. Lalou Bize-Leroy in 1986, she knew I represented Henri and she said to me (of his 1978), “I told Aubert that we should have made wine like this.” Lalou respects him immensely.
What is it about the vineyard Cros Parantoux itself?
A very thin layer of clay limestone soil sits on a bed of rock. The soil is very poor; it’s very rocky and very cold. The vineyard sits North/Northeast at the tip of Richebourg. This aspect offers a cool micro-climate. These conditions make for a very good natural acidity. Remember, Henri has been working with this fruit for over 40 years.
How much Cros Parantoux did Henri make from 1978 until 1995?
I guess about 3500 bottles each vintage, from 1978 until 1996. He almost completely stopped winemaking in 1995 and turned everything over to his nephew Emmanuel Rouget in 1996.
What about the wines of Rouget, or Jayer-Gilles, or Georges Jayer? What is really Henri’s influence if any?
Jayer-Gilles is Henri’s first cousin but has nothing to do with Henri. All along Henri oversaw the vineyards owned by his older brothers Lucien and Georges. One owns a piece of Vosne Beaumonts, the other a piece of Echezeaux. Henri cared for the fruit and offered advice to make the wine. Echezeaux Georges Jayer is bottled separately. Henri has two daughters who are not interested in taking over so his nephew by marriage, Emmanuel Rouget came to work with him in the early eighties. Rouget strictly follows Henri’s methods of viticulture and winemaking. The quality in most cases is inseparable.
So should we be collecting Emmanuel’s wines now?
Of course!
What does Henri think about the auction prices of his wine?
He can’t believe the phenomenon. But he raises his prices, has been raising he prices, to fall in with the market.
When did you notice the prices becoming so crazy?
Well, after he stopped making wine with Meo-Camuzet, collectors started to wonder where he went and what he was doing. Obviously the little bit of Cros Parantoux coming into the US had immediate buyers who had been following his wines for some time.
And now what? What is the Reserve?
Henri kept 1/3rd of Cros Parantoux for himself when he turned things over to Rouget in 1996. In 1997 he bottled 1400 bottles of his very own wine. I’m not sure he meant this for anything other than his personal enjoyment. For the first time in his life, he bottled a “reserve.” He offered some to friends and business friends who must have in turn offered some to their best customers and that is why we’ve seen a few cases of ’97 up for auction already. He has only done this from 1997 until 2001. Then really no more.
Martine Saunier spoke with Ursula Hermacinski in preparation for this upcoming auction.
