2006 Gevrey Chambertin Les Cherbaudes

From old vines just below Mazis and Clos de Beze, the Fourrier 2006 Gevrey-Chambertin Cherbaudes mingles tart but ripe red raspberry, red currant, and rose hip with red licorice, musk, and a prominent, saline meat broth character. Long, lean, bright, and invigorating, this clings not just with tart berries, salt, and brown spices, but with an almost peppery pungency, as well. Here is multi-dimensional, dynamic, transparent Pinot that should be fascinating to follow for the better part of a decade, during which it might also acquire a bit more sense of flesh on its handsomely lean torso. 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