Still harboring a bit of malic acid – not to mention a lot of CO2 – Fourrier 2008 Gevrey-Chambertin Combe Aux Moines had to be tasted at above-cellar temperature since the tank in which it resides had been gently warmed. An attractively yeasty, subtly toasty note – taken together with the contrast of creamy texture and berry-brightness – conveys simultaneous impressions of red currant- and cherry-filled pastry and boeuf en croute. Palpably dense yet buoyant and vibrant, this needs to shed some superficial tartness but looks on course to provide enormous satisfaction over the coming 10-12 years or more. Jean-Claude Fourrier left no doubt that he viewed 2008 under the aspect of a return to times and conditions he thought his generation would never have to face. “The most important determinant of quality in your range,” in 2008, he asserted, “was how willing you were to sacrifice on the sorting table.” He had only just bottled his 2008s when I tasted them at the end of February – with the exception of two wines that remained in tank, one a Combottes he had just warmed-up in a last ditch effort to push it across the lactic conversion line! “By last October,” he explains, “I was facing the situation that 5 casks out of 7 were at 80% of malic acid and the others at 20%. So you have the choice either to heat your cellar, or to make the – for me, painful – decision to bring the wine back together into vat for promoting natural inoculation. Otherwise, I would have been waiting until April, and I can hardly even consider two full years in cask for my wines To be honest, I hated my ‘08s for the first 14 months.” Primary fermentation also took place this year in large part through inoculation by utilizing whichever lots spontaneously kicked-in first as starters, because as Fourrier explained, “I’m not a fan of extended cold maceration, which means adding sulfur,” and with the ambient temperatures at which the 2008 fruit arrived in the press house, it could have taken a long time for many fermentations to commence. Potential alcohols were in the low to mid 11s, and boosted by at most a degree, lower total alcohol being one throwback to “the old days” that Fournier appreciates, “except,” as he notes, that back “in those days growers were mistakenly fixated on sugar, and chaptalization.” Fourrier finds his 2007s phenolically riper than his 2008s, but they were not showing an especially user-friendly side on the occasion when I tasted them, leading me to wonder where they’re headed, or whether they were experiencing a collective period of withdrawal. (For more about Fourrier’s always articulately and thoughtfully expressed methods – as well as about his vineyards – consult my reports in issues 170 and 186.) Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Pine Plains, NY; tel. (800) 910-1990

Sweet spot Outstanding. The always candid Jean-Marie Fourrier told me that 2008 was a "cool vintage that lacked a bit of sunshine. Mildew was a big concern and those who were leaf pulling very early never got the necessary phenolic maturity. In fact, I would say that 2008 gave the lowest phenolic maturity levels in the last 15 years. We waited to pick until the 27th of September and even then, a lot of our bunches had only half ripe grapes within them so a very careful triage was critical. The trick of course was to eliminate the berries that looked ripe but weren't. To do this, we employed neon lights because they illuminated the grapes in such a way that you could see what was ripe and what wasn't. In hindsight, I'm not sure that the date of the vintage mattered as much as it usually does because that late in the season with such cool weather, it's not clear that there was anything happening except dehydration. In fact, 2008 reminded me of some of the vintages that we experienced in the 1970s. We did a longer cool maceration than usual though this was simply because the grapes were so cool when we picked them. It was necessary to chaptalize and the average for us was around half a degree though a few wines required as much as 1%. 2008 was literally the polar opposite of 2003. In the latter vintage, cold was your friend but in 2008, you wanted warmth. Technically, 2008 has the same acidity as 1996. As to the wines, I'm honestly not sure how they will age. My thinking at present is that they could drink well for 3 or 4 years on their fruit and then shut down for years." I will repeat that Fourrier deliberately bottles with high CO2 levels as a partial defense against oxidation and thus if you elect to try an example or two young, be sure to decant for 20 to 30 minutes first. Drink: 2016+
-Burghound.com, Issue 37. Tasted: Jan 30, 2010

Wine Advocate June, 2010 Still harboring a bit of malic acid – not to mention a lot of CO2 – Fourrier 2008 Gevrey-Chambertin Combe Aux Moines had to be tasted at above-cellar temperature since the tank in which it resides had been gently warmed. An attractively yeasty, subtly toasty note – taken together with the contrast of creamy texture and berry-brightness – conveys simultaneous impressions of red currant- and cherry-filled pastry and boeuf en croute. Palpably dense yet buoyant and vibrant, this needs to shed some superficial tartness but looks on course to provide enormous satisfaction over the coming 10-12 years or more.