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.
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
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