Old Vine Wizard... Jean-Marie Fourrier

Domaine Jean-Marie Fourrier, Gevrey Chambertin

Today, I am pleased to share a mix vintage offer highlighting the coming of the 2022's, but also with Pinots from 21', 20', and even 12'.  Press is oddly limited on the wines, but the press that is shared affirms our position of Jean-Marie's wines.   I have separated the Jean-Marie's label from the Domaine wines.   What you will find from Jean-Marie is a wealth of old-vine material that brings such depth and concentration to his wines that make them standouts when comparatively tasted among other great Pinots.  

History and Insight into the Domaine...

Jean-Marie Fourrier took over the family 10 hectares property from his father in the mid 1990s at the age of 23 years old. His experience was gained not only at the family Domaine in Gevrey Chambertin, but while working at Domaine Drouhin in Oregon and with the legendary Henry Jayer in Vosne-Romanee. Jean Marie was involved in the making of the classic 1988 vintage chez Jayer, and his wine making philosophy is following Jayer’s practices ever since: making great wines begin in the vineyard – and he is fastidious about maintaining healthy, well nurtured vines, and following by strict, extremely natural wine making techniques.  The wines are made in the vineyard so it is Jean-Marie dedication to farm the best fruit possible.  This approach to vineyard-first is a priority of Jean-Marie's to preserve the wealth of old vines he owns and works with.

The fermentation room is equipped with the latest state of the art technology, but the use of these technologies is for the sole purpose of allowing the least intervention in the natural wine making process. It is incredible to see how clean the room is, even during busy vintage time. The fruit of all vineyards are similarly treated, and everything is done by gravitation till the fermentation stainless steel tanks. Even the sorting table was raised above the floor to allow free fall of the sorted berries into the de-stemmer, which costs extra muscle power but saving the use of conveyor belt widely used by other domains to lift the berries to the crusher. The fruit is destemmed to almost 100%, and is done in extremely low speed. This allows mainly un damaged grapes to get into the fermentation tank, to follow what Jean Marie calls “intra cellular fermentation”, to say, the majority of the fermentation process occurs inside the grape before the skin breaks completely. This was the manner Henry Jayer used in his cellar, and Jean-Marie continues to follow this tradition. Naturally, only the grapes’ natural yeasts are the ones responsible for the fermentation process, and hand pigeage technic is the only one to be utilized at Domaine Fourrier.

Jean-Marie’s wines are marked by wonderful purity, transparency, bright vibrant fruit, minimal use of sulfites and limited use of new oak (typically 20%).

Bottling is done by hand at the Domaine, and in order to avoid racking and adding sulfites before bottling, Jean-Marie prefers to leave the wine with the CO2 that naturally evolves during the malolactic fermentation to ward off oxygen and maintain the freshness of the wines. No fining or filtering is needed, since the wines are naturally clear after the 16-20 months aging process without racking. As the wines retain some dissolved carbon dioxide in the bottle, Jean Marie recommends decanting the wines if drank young.

The Wines...

Jean-Marie
2022 Jean-Marie Fourrier Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru La Perriere
2022 Jean-Marie Fourrier Cote de Nuits le Preau

2021 Jean-Marie Fourrier Chambertin Grand Cru Vieille Vigne - CT 92
2021 Jean-Marie Fourrier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses Vieille Vigne
2021 Jean-Marie Fourrier Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru La Perriere

2020 Jean-Marie Fourrier Chambertin Grand Cru Vieille Vigne
2020 Jean-Marie Fourrier Bourgogne Rouge - CT 90

2019 Jean-Marie Fourrier Bourgogne Rouge - JM 87-88, CT 90

2012 Jean-Marie Fourrier Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru - BH 91-94, VN 92-94

Domaine
2022 Domaine Jean Marie Fourrier Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Goulots Vieille Vigne - JM 92-95, WA 92-94, BH 90-93
2022 Domaine Jean Marie Fourrier Gevrey-Chambertin Vieille Vigne - WA 89-90, BH 89-91
2022 Domaine Jean Marie Fourrier Morey-Saint-Denis Clos Solon - VN 91-93, BH 89-91

I would highly suggest stocking up on the 2022's which in my opinion is the vintage for all Burgundy collectors to jump on.

Orders which include wines marked PRE-ARRIVAL that are combined with in stock items will be available for shipping/collection once all items have arrived at our warehouse.

If you place an order it may be held for more favorable shipping weather.  If you would like to discuss expedited shipping options just contact us.  Orders are automatically insured for $100, you can add additional insurance at checkout.

Automatically receive a discounted ground shipping rate when you order a full case of 12 bottles (mix and match - 750ml only).  Shipping promotion not valid for combination with previous orders.  Pricing for this offer only and not retroactive.

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-The Bottle List