The ultimate 2005 Burgundy Village value wine and why it is a perfect example of why 2005 is so brilliant!

3/17/2008 -

Long enough title for you?  There are so many great 2005's that it's our duty to guide you in the right direction for value allied with top quality. Gevrey-Chambertin is a village that has many top-class growers, and there are even growers outside of Gevrey proper who are making top class village Gevrey, but there is something about Fourrier's that draws me in, and it's my personal favorite in the appellation. The purity of the wine is stunning. It has the classic Gevrey character of sauvage/gaminess along with the purest red fruits you can imagine, tiny red berry fruits that explode in your mouth. Plus the wine has an elegant ethereal texture that is what Burgundy is all about. The wine is easily 1er Cru quality and despite all the insane pricing for 2005 this is a reasonable Burgundy to buy. Hell, I am buying some for the cellar! This is brilliant wine and a no-brainer.

Jean-Marie Fourrier has worked with winemakers diverse as Henri Jayer and the team at Domaine Drouhin. No wines are made from vines less than 30 years old and the young vines (under 30 years old) are sold off to negociants. Jean-Marie only uses sélection massale to replace dead, missing or diseased vines. The Gevrey is special in part because it comes from a number of different vineyards that are vinified separately and then blended. Very low sulfur dioxide is used - always a good thing, and probably why so many people comment on why his wines seem so pure. Only 20% new oak, as Fourrier believes that too much oak masks the personality and terroir of each wine. In other words he is making wine exactly the right wine.

We also have a number of the higher end Fourrier wines from 2005 available and they are fabulous which is to be expected.

L.F.