2006 Morey St Denis Clos Solon

A village-typical nose suggesting incense and resin in Fourrier's 2006 Morey-St.-Denis introduces a juicy palate of salted red raspberry, rendered somewhat austere by the slightly bitter pungency of herbal concentrate and the underlying stoniness. This is certainly underlain by impressive extract even if it is superficially-speaking spare. A fine sense of primary fruit freshness combines with saline savor for invigoration in the finish. I would plan to revisit this in 2010 or 2011 with the intention of enjoying it in the 2-3 following years. Eyebrows as well as stakes in the Burgundy-buying game were raised when the prices of certain Fourrier 2006s came out well above those of 2005. Time will of course tell whether this new positioning "sticks," but there can be no overlooking either the consistently excellent results Jean-Marie Fourrier achieves, nor the extreme paucity and remarkable quality of his two most celebrated bottlings, particularly in this vintage. Jean-Claude Fourrier – with whom I tasted the majority of his son's 2006s – told me that contrary to usual practice here, the stems were removed from all of the fruit this year, because none were really ripe (i.e. truly lignified). (For more about Fourrier's always articulately and thoughtfully expressed methods, consult my report in issue 170.) Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Pine Plains, NY; tel. (800) 910-1990