2011 Gevrey Chambertin Les Cherbaudes

The 2011 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cherbaudes has a feminine, lifted bouquet that is very fragrant with cold stone and spice. This has a lovely voluminous palate adorned with immense precision, fresh acidity and lovely tension and race toward the finish. Full of vigor and minerality, the Cherbaudes is one of Jean-Marie’s finest 2011s. Drink 2014-2023. I remember first meeting Jean-Marie Fourrier in London back at a time when he was establishing a presence in the UK market. Back then, his wines enjoyed more cultish popularity, that being at a time when Burgundy was the preserve of aficionados. Things have changed. Fourrier is now one of the most respected names in Gevrey, even if, perversely, he remains relatively unknown in his homeland. And Jean-Marie has not changed in all the years that I have known him. He is passionate, candid, principled, witty and born with a convenient knack of creating elegant Pinot Noirs that in 2011 have been augmented by two negociant offerings. Jean-Marie was at pains to explain that this expansion is simply because it is too expensive to buy vineyard nowadays and it does not represent a change in direction. His wines bear a whiff of semblance of Henri Jayer for whom Jean-Marie did a stage back in 1988, the fruit almost entirely de-stemmed and aged prudently in a modest percentage of new oak. With respect to the 2011s, I questioned him about the ripeness level and whether he felt there were incidences of greenness. He explained that there was the constant pressure of mildew, but that those with adequate, healthy green foliage were able to exploit the final three weeks of warm weather at the end of what had been a cool summer, offering the step to phenolic maturity. As previously mentioned, there are two negociant wines to finish off. Jean-Marie’s team goes into the vineyard to undertake the picking and he emphasized: “I buy grapes, not wine” and only from those who bottle themselves and want to reduce their quantity. Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Pine Plains, NY; tel. (800) 910-1990

Relatively pale. Fragrant, charming and long. Delicate red fruit, very gentle and yet very long with a foundation that goes deep. Such fine balance. (JH)

Rich and broad and racy. Flattering nose. Sweet and relatively lightweight. Close to Clos de Bèze. Nice undercurrent and chewy. Long. Very stony and low soil depth. (JR)