Fournier’s 2008 Marsannay Clos St.-Urbain had recently been bottled when I tasted it, and it must be said that the effect of its residual CO2 as well as something of a tart “memory of malic acid” lent it a palate-scouring character and almost radish-like bite. Yet, the wine is singular enough in other respects as to merit attention over the next 3-5 years, during which I feel confident it will have interesting applications. Bright red currant, sour cherry, and red raspberry are allied to striking, musky peony- and narcissus-like floral perfume. Salt and cherry pit bitterness add to a sense of persistent invigoration.
Laurent Fournier’s proclivity for larger barrel sizes – one I generally applaud – and for racking his wines out of them after 14 months, exacerbated the CO2 retention in 2008s that had been late and long in malo. He terminated one early bottling run – in February, much later than normal, and just before my visit – when he realized the wine was too gaseous and unresolved to merit early enjoyment. Additionally, the aggressive acids and delayed malolactic transformation seemed to accentuate the extent to which some of his 2008s took on awkward flavors of oak that might nonetheless integrate with time. For these reasons, I must deliver a somewhat tentative report on wines that in recent years have proven to offer excellent value. Fournier started picking already on September 22, and said the work went quicker than in 2007 when ripeness in his sites was even less regular. (Fournier’s 2009s, incidentally, look to constitute his most impressive collection yet.)
A Thomas Calder Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011-33-1-46-45-15-29; Also a Cellar Door Selection, Columbia , MD; tel. (410) 309-6063
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