89

Stephen Tanzer

Vinous

Good medium red. Very ripe aromas of candied raspberry and spices. Densely packed, sweet and fleshy but juicy too, with its raspberry and saline mineral flavors complicated by leather and game nuances. Finishes with a serious dusting of tannins and very good length. A touch warm but I like this. 11/2017

87-89

Neal Martin

Robert Parker/Wine Advocate

The 2015 Gevrey-Chambertin Aux Echézeaux has a well defined bouquet with red cherry and raspberry, demonstrating fine mineralité and tension. The palate is medium-bodied with ripe tannin and good weight in the mouth, although it needs a little more substance and precision towards the finish, a bit more energy to come through. Jean-Marie Fourrier could not join me during my visit, which was great news because that meant I could natter with his English-born better half, Vicky. (Only joking J-M.) He was actually checking out a new waxing machine that will make their task less laborious than it is presently. "We started picking on 10 September with a big team and picked everything within five days..." Vicky told me, as she began summarizing the growing season. Now, that is pretty good considering the size of the portfolio, domaine and négoçiant included. "We have started to use a company where you can hire from around 200 pickers. These people have already been doing harvest in Beaujolais, etc., so they know what to do. We found that the berries had thick skins, very little juice but good ripeness and acidity. Everything is de-stemmed as usual. Stems can affect the pH levels and bring it down, so that is another reason why we would not use them. We did two pigéages each day during the cuvaison. The wines are matured in 25% oak or thereabouts and we will start bottling in January...with our new wax machine." I have long been a fan of Jean-Marie's wines even since I came across them in the late 1990s in the UK, still perhaps their biggest market (for some inexplicable reason France has never really taken to Fourrier). There are numerous highlights, not only on the domaine side, but also on the negociant side of the business, which Vicky said was now the only way to expand the business since land prices are so prohibitive. At least Jean-Marie seems to be able to get his hands on some choice premier and grand crus including Clos de Vougeot, Chambolle Amoureuses and Chambertin. On the domaine side, the Clos Saint-Jacques is wonderful although I must confess, I wish that they kept the old vines in main blend rather than parsing them away to create the Cuvée Centenaire, which is only sold in the Far East. For me, and indeed for many others I speak to, you feel as if you are paying top dollar for something precious and yet deprived of its "heart" in order to please the tiny number who can get their hands on a piece of the two barrels. Griping over. Elsewhere, there are delectable offering from Gevrey Champeaux and Morey Clos Sorbé that will get taste buds salivating, among many others. 12/2016