Nostalgia alert: Ah, remember when these little puppies could be had for under £300 – no, not per bottle – per dozen! It seems it’s 3 years since I last popped one of these, so…
2003 Fourrier, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Clos St.Jacques
The cork slides out a little more easily than I would prefer but it’s in-tact and the wine is fine.
Many 2003s have been in a kind of stasis, a plateau, of pre-maturity for nearly 10 years now but this wine is finally starting to show a little development; the colour is not one of youth and for the first time I’m getting a little age-related dried leaf plus soil and spice on the nose. That said, the dried leaves are still quite modest given the impressive weight of this ripe cherry fruit and even a floral accent with aeration – and it’s still quite a primary fruit too. For the vintage, I like the shape of this – not facile and round – here is a decent structure on which to pin the fruit. The tannins are modestly grained but ‘present’ – so not an ultra-elegant CSJ as this wine was in 2002. Overall, a mouthful of heart-warming and tasty flavour that is finally starting to show a little added, age-related, complexity – really a wine that’s far too easy to drink too!
Rebuy – Yes at the old pricing!