02 fourrier griotte-chambertin

Update 5.6.2009(6.6.2009)billn
2002 Fourrier, Griotte-Chambertin
2002 Fourrier, Griotte-Chambertin

I though this would make a nice counter-point to the Clos St.Jacques.

This is a wine that has become an icon. I could buy it relatively easily up until the 2005 (that vintage was problematic, though I managed to get a couple), but since then, and despite buying the wine since ’99 I’ve been shut out through merchants. I will have to live with the modest few cases or-so of assorted Griottes in the cellar I suppose…

This is a classic example of Griotte, and I think there are many parallels between this and Les Amoureuses; it shows grand cru concentration and power, though it is still very approachable – yet, what it offers in style, it so often misses in intellect – this is an ‘easy’ and currently one-dimensional wine. Clearly it will get better and better with age, but by comparison, at this age I would already expect to see much more character in its next-door neighbour, Chapelle-Chambertin. Maybe I am personally becoming more mature, but with more producers and a lower average price in Chapelle, maybe it’s time for me to dispense with the pretty Griotte face and buy more from ‘next door’ – wines I have more chance to converse with!

If you wish to open one of Fourrier’s ‘top 2’ from this vintage, open and decant the Clos St.Jacques – for the moment at least, it offers far more interest.

2002 Fourrier, Griotte-Chambertintry to find this wine...
Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose opens with wide and forward and very, very young grapey fruit – it’s like a genie escaping from the bottle, but escape it does and what you are left with is a dense core of red fruit. The aromas remain solid and one-dimensional for the next 2 hours – no 02 CSJ sytyle reduction here. The palate is fatter and more concentrated than the CSJ and the balance is very good – the tannin is there only if you search it out. Like the nose, there is concentration but no complexity – it’s big and rounded and soft and somehow comforting, but it’s monosyllabic – typical young Griotte I suppose. Remaining bottles should wait at least until their 12th birthday I think, though 15+ is likely to be better.
Rebuy – Yes

Leave a Reply to Tom BlachCancel reply

There are 2 responses to “02 fourrier griotte-chambertin”

  1. Ned7th June 2009 at 3:58 amPermalinkReply

    Care to speculate or venture opinions of what could be expected for the 03?

    • billn7th June 2009 at 12:59 pmPermalinkReply

      Hi Ned, it was a very good 03 (from memory), though I expect it will (like the 02) be a long way from complexity. That some 02’s are a little tight might also indicate that it could be a better drink today if you want to open one.
      Cheers, Bill

  2. Tom Blach7th June 2009 at 3:22 pmPermalinkReply

    I rather agree with your reflections on the vineyard,Bill. It produces wonderful wine but in this age of instant communication has become rather overvalued compared to its peers, so I shall regard my quite substantial supply as tradeable. The 01 was pretty serious on my one inspection, though.
    I’ve for some time thought the Combe Aux Moines to be the real treasure of this cellar though I guess as usual my view is eccentric.

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