2019 Domaine Fourrier Bourgogne Blanc, Burgundy, France

ABOUT THIS WINE

This small cuvée of white wine is an enchanting introduction to the wines of the estate. From a parcel in the northern reaches of the Cote de Nuits, the wine is simple but broad and generous, typical of the whites of this part of Burgundy with soils more attuned to pinot noir. Three barrels (900 bottles) are our usual allocation for the US market.

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

Propriétaire of 60 to 100-year-old vines in some of Gevrey-Chambertin’s most fabled sites, it was not until Jean-Marie Fourrier took charge in 1994 that the domaine once again fulfilled its towering potential— making it today one of the Côte d’Or’s greatest sources for wines that purely express site, aromatic complexity, and intensity.

A protégé of the great Henri Jayer, Fourrier describes his non-interventionist, true-to-the-vintage approach as “the philosophy of doing nothing.” Relying on the fine quality of the fruit from his ancient pre-clone vines planted in great crus, the Fourrier wines prove that great Burgundy is made in the vineyard. And, in Gevrey-Chambertin—a village teeming with fine wines—Fourrier’s could be the finest of all.

Jean-Marie, the fourth generation to work the family domaine, is obsessive about fruit quality, routinely selling off all the fruit from vines younger than 30 years of age. Rather than green-harvesting in the summer, he prunes severely in the winter to limit yield. And all grapes are sorted in the vineyard to avoid contact with any unhealthy fruit. New oak is limited to 20% to favor transparency.

As a result, Jean-Marie makes some of Burgundy’s most gloriously expressive wines. His reds share a common thread of superb balance, captivating elegance and finesse, haunting aromatic complexity and fine structure. But each wine also displays fully the unique character of its cru, reflecting such differences as slope, exposure and the amount of topsoil overlying Gevrey’s ancient limestone base.