2024 Domaine Fourrier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru “Les Gruenchers” Vieille Vigne, Burgundy, France

2024 Domaine Fourrier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru “Les Gruenchers” Vieille Vigne, Burgundy, France

The bouquet displays a fresh profile of dark-berry fruits layered with complex, delicate baking spices like cardamom and nutmeg. It is light in weight and remarkably fresh, capturing an elegant and ethereal texture. True to the vineyard's location just below Bonnes-Mares, it delivers profound, penetrating mineralité and a distinctly stony sensation on the finish.

$296.99
$296.99

ABOUT THIS WINE

This wine is vinified using Jean-Marie Fourrier’s signature low-intervention, terroir-focused philosophy, heavily influenced by his time training under the legendary Henri Jayer. The process emphasizes fruit purity, gentle extraction, and minimal oak influence to capture the delicate, floral essence of this specific Chambolle-Musigny climat. 
Grapes are meticulously sorted directly in the vineyard to ensure only pristine fruit enters the cellar. Fourrier heavily favors 100% destemming (though a small percentage of stems may occasionally be integrated depending on the vintage's phenolic ripeness). Crucially, the berries are left uncrushed to encourage a slow, partial intracellular fermentation inside the whole berries.  A natural cold soak lasting 3 to 5 days precedes the fermentation. Spontaneous alcoholic fermentation then takes place in stainless steel tanks using only indigenous yeasts. 
Caps are punched down manually (pigeage) 2 to 4 times a day. Jean-Marie prefers pigeage over pumping-over to feel the heat and resistance of the tank, ensuring a highly managed, non-aggressive extraction of fine tannins and color. The wine is moved by gravity into French oak barrels for 16 to 20 months. In keeping with the domaine's style, new oak is strictly capped at around 15% to 20% to avoid masking the chalky limestone terroir of Les Gruenchers. 
The wine stays on its fine lees without being racked. Fourrier preserves the natural dissolved carbon dioxide (CO₂) generated during malolactic fermentation. This CO₂ acts as a natural antioxidant, allowing the estate to use minimal sulfur dioxide (SO₂)

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

Domaine Fourrier is a historic family domaine based in Gevrey-Chambertin, with roots reaching back to the 1930s. The estate grew from vineyard holdings assembled by Fernand Pernot and the Fourrier family, formerly known as Pernot-Fourrier. Today it encompasses roughly 10 hectares, principally in Gevrey-Chambertin, with additional parcels in Chambolle-Musigny, Morey-Saint-Denis and Vougeot. Its holdings include notable sites such as Griotte-Chambertin Grand Cru, Clos Saint-Jacques, Combe aux Moines, Les Cherbaudes, and the Les Gruenchers Premier Cru in Chambolle-Musigny. 

The modern identity of the domaine is closely tied to Jean-Marie Fourrier, who took over from his father Jean-Claude in 1994, at age 23. Before returning home, Jean-Marie gained experience with Henri Jayer and Emmanuel Rouget in Vosne-Romanée and later worked at Domaine Drouhin in Oregon. After taking control, he reduced yields, stopped using herbicides, modernized the cellar and began vinifying the domaine's many individual parcels separately rather than blending them together. He works alongside his sister Isabelle and his wife Vicki. Old vines are particularly important to Fourrier's philosophy. Much of the domaine's vineyard material is quite old, including vines planted between the World Wars, and some parcels are considerably older. The domaine's Clos Saint-Jacques includes vines planted around 1910. Fourrier believes established root systems are fundamental to expressing terroir.

In the cellar, Fourrier's approach is relatively restrained and focused on preserving the identity of each vineyard. The domaine vinifies its numerous parcels separately, uses indigenous yeasts, favors gentle extraction, and limits new oak to no more than about 20%, even for its highest-level wines. The wines typically remain on their fine lees for an extended élevage without routine racking and are bottled without fining or filtration.

Details:

Grape(s) Pinot Noir
Farming Organic