Jean-Marie Fourrier
Jean-Marie Fourrier
Region of production: Côte de Nuits
Winery Location: Gevrey-Chambertin
Year Established: 1930s
Summary: Jean-Marie Fourrier took over the family domaine from his father Jean-Claude in 1995 after working stages with Henri Jayer and Domaine Drouhin in Oregon. One of the key qualities of Fourrier wines is that they come from very old vines: any wine from vines less than 30 years old is sold to négociants—making all domaine-bottled wines essentially vieille vigne.Vines are replanted individually as they die using sélection massale. While the old vines of the domaine tend to already be quite low-yielding, they are also pruned severely and de-budded in the spring; however, no green harvest is done. Jean-Marie Fourrier has built the family domaine into one of the region’s most respected in foreign markets—with tremendous demand in the United States and extremely high prices on the secondary market—yet as the majority of the domaine’s wines are exported, he is little-known in France.
Key Vineyard Holdings: 9 ha total
- Griotte-Chambertin Grand Cru: 0.26 ha Pinot Noir, planted in 1928
- Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Saint-Jacques Premier Cru: 0.89 ha Pinot Noir, planted in 1910
- Gevrey-Chambertin La Combe aux Moines Premier Cru: 0.87 ha Pinot Noir, planted in 1928
- Gevrey-Chambertin Les Champeaux Premier Cru: 0.21 ha Pinot Noir, planted in 1919
- Gevrey-Chambertin Les Goulots Premier Cru: 0.34 ha Pinot Noir, planted in 1966
- Gevrey-Chambertin Cherbaudes Premier Cru: 0.67 ha Pinot Noir, planted in 1940
- Chambolle-Musigny Les Gruenchers Premier Cru: 0.29 ha Pinot Noir, planted in 1928
- Vougeot Les Petits Vougeots Premier Cru: 0.34 ha Pinot Noir, planted in 1955
- Gevrey-Chambertin Champerrier: 3.3 ha Pinot Noir, planted from 1928-1955
Average Total Production: unknown
Top Wines Produced:
- Griotte-Chambertin Grand Cru
- Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Saint-Jacques Premier Cru
- Gevrey-Chambertin La Combe aux Moines Premier Cru
- Gevrey-Chambertin Les Champeaux Premier Cru
- Gevrey-Chambertin Les Goulots Premier Cru
- Gevrey-Chambertin Cherbaudes Premier Cru
- Chambolle-Musigny Les Gruenchers Premier Cru
- Vougeot Les Petits Vougeots Premier Cru
- Gevrey-Chambertin “Vieilles Vignes”: from the Champerrier climat
Inaugural Vintage for Top Wines: unknown
Brief Description of Style / Vinification Techniques: At harvest, grapes are sorted in the vineyard and in the winery. Grapes are 100% de-stemmed but not crushed, and all parcels are fermented separately. The cool must starts fermentation slowly with native yeasts, and pigeage is conducted two to four times per day (there are no pump-overs). After 16-19 days on the skins, the wines are pressed to barrel (up to 20% new oak). Jean-Marie prefers to rack his wines only immediately prior to bottling, and he sometimes bottles from cask in order to preserve carbon dioxide in the wine and reduce the need for sulfur dioxide additions. The wines are bottled without fining or filtration and can frequently show some gas when young.
Importer Website: http://madrose.com/index.php/france/burgundy/cote-de-nuit/domaine-fourrier
Producer Website: n/a