Jean Nicolas’ wines are full of elegance and complexity this year, and their development has been exciting to witness. The style is refined, pure, and linear, with assertive, yet beautifully enveloped top-grade tannins – quite unlike 2000, with its immediate hit of ripe, voluptuous, confit fruit. In my mind this is the finer vintage. The two négociant wines are all in fruit; the Hautes Côtes de Nuits Blanc has a bouquet of fresh, tropical fruit and hint of spice, which is consistent with the palate; and the Marsannay has an aroma of redcurrants and strawberries and is charmingly fruity and appetizing on the palate. The Bourgogne Rouge is elegant and thirst quenching. These wines will be approachable early, while his other wines demand time and patience for their full complexity and appeal to emerge. The Nuits Meurgers is a dense wine, of deep, red fruit and solid structure, while the Vosne Brûlées is more feminine and luscious, with sexy tannins and good, clean, red fruits. All wines offered below on allocation and very limited quantities are available.

Bourgogne Rouge

Hautes Cotes De Nuits Clos Philibert BLANC

Bourgogne Passetoutgrains

Bourgogne Rouge

I am not alone in believing that Ghislaine’s wines are always one step above other wines in the same category. The straight Bourgogne, for example, easily merits Villages status, with its pure, vibrant, raspberry fruit, while the Chambolle Villages is certainly comparable to a good Premier Cru. Each wine this year is amazingly true to its own particular style, from the soft, complex sensuality of the Beaux-Bruns, to the more masculine, tightly knit tannins and dark-fruited flavours of les Cras. These are wines that age beautifully, so get started on the Bourgogne, and allow the others some time to improve: Villages first, followed by Beaux-Bruns, Fuées and Chatelots. Charmes (POA) will be ready next, which leaves the noble Cras until last. Enjoy.

2001 confirms that this is a welcome addition to my range, and bolsters my representation of Chambolle-Musigny which remains one of my favourite villages in the whole of Burgundy. It is as good, if not better than last year, because the vitality of fruit and floral aromas accentuated by the elegance of the vintage. The old vine Chambolle is superb, with its aroma of raspberry, red currant, and its mouthwatering fruit and fresh acidity on the palate. The Gruenchers – 17 year old vines – is a more serious wine, with tighter tannins which will, with a few years bottle age turn this into a classy, elegant wine. Groseilles, coming from vines that are approaching 50, is already fat and creamy, and has a richness of fruit and silkiness of texture that is very appealing. Plenty of depth here, and all in finesse.

Denis continues to move in the right direction in terms of extraction and use of new wood – less of both – and is producing wines of more elegance and charm than at a certain period of his wine-making career. 2001, for him, has been a great success, one in which the quality of his work in the vines really shines through. I know a few vignerons, one of his neighbours among them, who maintain that in the care of his vines he is the biggest perfectionist in the Côtes de Nuits.

His yields are ridicuously small, and his wines are concentrated and powerful. His Aligoté, for example, packs a punch rarely seen in this grape variety, with its juicy, fruit-filled palate and its exciting edge of minerality. Equally, the Bourgogne Blanc is quite a stunner in its own category, with its clean, citrus fruit, spicy undertones and racy acidity.

The Gevrey Chambertin Villages is a very spicy, rich expression of Pinot Noir and will repay a good 3-4 years bottle age by further incorporating the influence of new wood. Between Champeaux and Lavaux, the former will be ready more quickly, and the Lavaux is rather a sulking beast at the moment, its latent power and complexity simmering away in the background. The Champeaux is softer, and has more red fruits on the nose, and silken top-quality tannins on the palate. The old vine Premier Cru is a remarkable wine, with a startling intensity of fruit and a real sensation of terroir on the palate. The finish is very long. Between the Clos Vougeot and the Chambertin, the Vougeot is the more flattering wine for the time being with pure floral and raspberry aromas, a tremendous depth of flavour on the palate and hints of spice and tobacco.

The Chambertin, noble, masculine and reserved, will require more patience, but its black fruits, rich texture and firm tannic structure suggest that this patience will be well rewarded. They are wines which effortlessly earn their Grand Cru status.
All wines on allocation.

BERNARD et BERTRAND MAUME, GEVREY-CHAMBERTIN

Bertrand, son of Bernard is a wild, unconventional man who flouts convention – and indeed appointments – and continually refuses to make wines ‘taster friendly’. For this reason his wines are very difficult to taste in their early stages of development, and defy any assured criticism until safetly in bottle. Yet these wines are particular favourites of mine, and prove time and time again that initial doubts at rather ‘wacky’ aromas and flavours are soon dissolved once the wines have settled into bottled life. With time, they become pure, expressive, noble wines with a great sense of terroir and authenticity, but will not be hurried.

2001 looks set to be another such vintage, playing on an exciting nervous tension bewteen ripe fruit and balancing acidity, yet containing depth and concentration which is just itching to perform. The Etelois, as always, is the most forgiving at the moment, with it wild, brambly fruit and vibrant palate. The Champeaux has suave tannins, good length, while the Lavaux St Jacques is rather more backward and adolescent in style for the time being. The Charmes-Chambertin and the Mazis-Chambertin – both Grand Cru – are still unknit, but both have all the elements to make fantastic wines; the Charmes in a more voluptuous sensual, pure-fruited way, and the Mazis in a spicy, dark, wild and sultry one.

As Kermit Lynch (Maume’s famous and influential longtime American importer) often says: these are some of the most essential and indispensable wines in all of Burgundy.

A quite amazing range of ethereal and superbly balanced wines. Jean-Marie Fourrier is making wines of exceptional finesse and complexity. He is in the top league of wine producers and the 2001 wines show wonderfully lacy fruit and the character of each unique terroir. All the fruit emanates from very old vines (generally between 60 and 90 years old). There is minimal handling of the wines and very little new oak used here. The search for balance and typicity are the important factors here. These are great wines and in this vintage Jean-Marie and his family have produced superb wines which will need cellaring. We also have tiny quantities of the very fine and voluptuous 2000 wines still available: please ask about these.

1. Prices are in £ per dozen bottles carriage paid to in bond delivered to Edinburgh.
2. Duty and VAT charges are due at prevailing rates when wine has been shipped and cleared from bonded warehouse. Onward delivery charges to customers’ addresses will be charged at cost.
3. Wines are offered subject to availability and prices are subject to alteration.
4. TERMS ARE CASH WITH ORDER PLEASE. (POA = Price On Application).