This wine was gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous on release. I would go as far as to say, that until the 2005 vintage it was easily one of the tastiest villages wines I’ve ever had the good fortune to buy. It wasn’t, however, all plain-sailing for my selection of 2001 Fourriers; my first Petits Vougeots was reductive and sullen – not great – though my recent bottle was a more-than pleasant surprise. Three years ago there was a disappointing Gruenchers that was volatile and not so pleasant – an aberration I thought.

Earlier this year an American winemaker and burgundy enthusiast started to publish notes suggesting that his 2001 Fourriers were all turning volatile and needed to be drunk-up. I did of-course have the Gruenchers episode, but despite being sceptical, opened a second Petits Vougeot – and it was okay, much better than may opening bottle. Further poor notes prompted me to open this wine:

2001 Fourrier, Chambolle-Musigny Vieilles-Vignes
Medium colour. High-toned, slight pickle aroma over a meatier base. The acidity is to the fore and like the nose, it’s not the finest type, it has a balsamic aspect. Whilst the acidity dominates, there are hints of what this wine was, and what it could have been – a long, long old-vine creaminess. It retains some drinkability, but that drinking window is almost closed. Day two it’s certainly better. the volatile element mainly gone – but that’s the nature of volatility 😉
Rebuy – No

Claude Kolm reports the following:

Domaine Fourrier 2001s.Some people have reported random bad results with Jean-Marie Fourrier’s 2001s. I asked him about it and he requested that I post the following: He is aware that people have reported problems and believes that because of the random nature, it must be due to one of his cork suppliers. That cork supplier is Spanish and the name FS appear on the corks. Assuming that is reason, Jean-Marie thinks some bottles will still be good and some others in the same case not. Jean-Marie lost his business in the south of France because one cork supplier he’d been buying from since 1999. 2001 in the south of France was his first vintage and very quickly it appeared that there was some variation among bottles, resulting in an unsalable vintage. He thought he was okay in Burgundy until now. He based his confidence on the fact that the corks in Burgundy were barely treated with peroxide, but he now thinks some bottles may have received more treatment than others, resulting in VA in those bottles. Since the 2002 vintage he has changed his supplier and hasn’t stopped since in his search the best cork possible. He currently is using untreated corks from an artisanal producer in Corsica. For the reasons above, he recommends that people drink the wines soon and to accept his deepest apology.

The Chambolle above did indeed bear the FS mark. Checking my NoteFinder, I see 11 notes for 2001s from Fourrier, 2 negative ones, but only one of those was volatile. There are two more notes to add, the good Petits Vougeots and this flawed Chambolle. 10 good bottles from 13 is one way to look at it. I only need to decide whether I should open my two remaining bottles – both Griotte.