Wine Advisor
Fourrier, Gevrey Chambertin Vieilles Vignes 2005
View analysis
Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: David Schildknecht
From north of town, a 2005 Gevrey-Chambertin Champs Perrieres required a good shaking to rouse it from its reduced state, and may still not have been showing its full personality. Marrowy, meaty, and minerally in personality, compact in structure and formidably dense, this wine illustrates (as Fourrier says he intended) the carnal and stony concentration of Gevrey’s northern slopes, inherently less refined, polished, or perfumed than wines from the South side of town. The articulate and opinionated Jean-Marie Fourrier staunchly believes in the inclusion of uncrushed fruit (to among other things prolong fermentation and, he claims, diminish the efficiency of alcoholic conversion); leaving the young wines on their lees (with high CO2 retention) eighteen months before bottling; employing a mere 20% of new barrels for all wines; and applying only minimal doses of sulfur. That the property from which he sources is all owned outright, and is largely in vines of over fifty years age planted by his father or grandfather before the days of clones certainly helps explain the consistently excellent quality at this address. Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Pine Plains, NY; tel. (800) 910-1990
About the Producer
Domaine Fourrier is a long-established family-owned winery located in the wine-producing village of Gevrey-Chambertin in Burgundy, France. Founded by Fernand Fourrier between the 1830s and 1940s, Fourrier has been in the family for four generations. Fernand, who never married and had no children, handed over the estate to his nephew Jean-Claude Fourrier in 1969. During this period, Château Fourrier became one of the first producers to export to the United States, with the most complete facilities and vineyards in all the appellations. By the end of the 1980s, the estate was experiencing a recession. It was not until 1994, with the birth of Jean-Marie, son of Jean-Claude, that the estate was revived. The current owner, Jean-Marie, combines family tradition with his own knowledge and, together with his wife Vicki, has regained the reputation of the estate. Château de Fleurier has about 9 hectares of vineyards in the villages of Gevrey-Chambertin, Morey-Saint-Denis, Chambolle-Musigny and Vougeot, planted mainly with Pinot Noir. The vines are old, with an average age of 50 to 70 years. In terms of viticulture, the winery respects the local terroir and does not use chemical fertilizers, and pest control measures are kept to a minimum in order to ensure the health and sustainability of the vineyards. Jean-Marie takes a unique approach to yield control by pruning the branches in winter, but instead of blindly using green harvesting, it relies on bud removal measures. Achieving a natural balance between vine growth and yield control is at the heart of the winery's philosophy. In the winemaking process, Château de Fleurier aims to express the characteristics of the unlike terroir, by vinifying grapes from different vineyards, even if they are not Grand Cru or Premier Cru. The wine ferments slowly and gently during a cold maceration of 3 to 4 days, extracting the rich pigments and flavors. The winery does not use sulfur dioxide, but rather uses temperature control, carbon dioxide and wine mud to retain more of the flavors. According to Jean-Marie, "oak barrels are used to let the wine breathe slowly, not to add flavor," so the wine is matured without using more than 20% new oak barrels to retain the wine's pure fruit and personality. Currently, Château Frères has released several red wines and one white wine, which are widely recognized by the industry. Among them, the Domaine Fourrier Griotte-Chambertin GranCru is the most outstanding, with a particularly elegant style and without the wildness that is common in Gevrey. The owner, Jean-Marie, describes it as a delicate woman in a red dress that dances on the side, and as the dress fades away, the finish is its greatest highlight.
