Domaine Jean Fournier

In Marsannay, it is not St Vincent but St Urbain who holds sway as the patron saint of vignerons. His eponymous cuvée is a blend of various village sites and older vines. There was no new oak in 2016, and 25 percent whole-bunch. It was aged in larger 500-litre barrels, then spent three months in concrete, which Laurent prefers to stainless steel, which has too cold a touch, he says. The wine has a deep, viscous nose, almost like marmite, and a positive, rich, earthy palate. This makes it sound rustic; it’s not, just characterful Pinot Noir from deep, cool soils. Drink 2019-2024.
Adam Bruntlett, Wine Buyer

The Fourniers have been making wine in Marsannay since at least the 17th century, though the domaine as currently constituted was established in the 1960s by Jean Fournier. His son Laurent now runs the estate, along with being in charge of the project to establish Premiers Crus in Marsannay. The domaine is now certified organic, through AB and Ecocert. They make more than 20 different cuvées, the majority from Marsannay. Laurent’s efforts for the creation of a Premier Cru category in Marsannay seem to have stalled for the moment – perhaps a good thing, as he needed all his energy to combat the mildew this year. Laurent is another vigneron who had to compromise his organic status to save the crop, and he ended up with 28hl/ha across the domaine. The results are compelling though: these are wines without compromise, amplifying the paradoxes of Marsannay, with its cool limestone, extreme terroirs and burly tannins. Running between those is the fruit of some wonderful old vineyards, of which Laurent is the proud custodian.

This site can count itself very unlucky not to be classified as Marsannay, a quirk of the process when the appellation was created, one which hopefully will be rectified soon. It’s a mix of 1940-planted vines with some young, but very high-quality young vines. Floral and spicy on the nose, the wine is rich, concentrated and pure on the palate with chalky limestone minerality. Outstanding. Drink 2020-2026.


The scars of the 2016 vintage appear to have healed, although with Laurent’s positive attitude that was never in doubt. Having had to compromise his organic status last year to fight the mildew which followed the frost, he has begun organic certification again. Since 2016 Laurent has made a conscious effort to “have faith in the grapes”, and extract less from them, allowing the terroir to speak clearly. The results are exciting, the wines showing more grace, elegance and purity. It is clear that this is one of the success stories of the vintage.

This is a blend of vineyards around the village itself, along with middle-aged (10- to 30-year-old) vines from the best single-vineyard sites of Clos du Roy, Longeroies and Es Chezots, aged in 500-litre barrels with around 20 percent whole bunches. With very pretty red fruit on the nose, this is juicy, crunchy and succulent – just classic, fresh Burgundian Pinot Noir. Drink 2019-2025.

This is on very cool Comblanchien limestone, where the vines need Champagne rootstocks to prosper, but the site itself is still and warm. The vines are up to 65 years old, all adding up to something that is both dense and bright, with sharply-drawn fruit and some bristly tannin. There is a lovely, smoky, toasty intensity on the finish. Drink 2020-2028.
Adam Bruntlett, Wine Buyer

The Fourniers have been making wine in Marsannay since at least the 17th century, though the domaine as currently constituted was established in the 1960s by Jean Fournier. His son Laurent now runs the estate, along with being in charge of the project to establish Premiers Crus in Marsannay. The domaine is now certified organic, through AB and Ecocert. They make more than 20 different cuvées, the majority from Marsannay. Laurent’s efforts for the creation of a Premier Cru category in Marsannay seem to have stalled for the moment – perhaps a good thing, as he needed all his energy to combat the mildew this year. Laurent is another vigneron who had to compromise his organic status to save the crop, and he ended up with 28hl/ha across the domaine. The results are compelling though: these are wines without compromise, amplifying the paradoxes of Marsannay, with its cool limestone, extreme terroirs and burly tannins. Running between those is the fruit of some wonderful old vineyards, of which Laurent is the proud custodian.

Laurent selects only his oldest vines (up to 70 years old) from the Clos du Roy for this cuvée. The nose is sophisticated with red fruit and lifted, floral touches. The palate is cool, with bright red fruits, powdery tannins and a note of torrefaction which comes not from oak, but the vineyard itself. Drink 2020-2027.

The scars of the 2016 vintage appear to have healed, although with Laurent’s positive attitude that was never in doubt. Having had to compromise his organic status last year to fight the mildew which followed the frost, he has begun organic certification again. Since 2016 Laurent has made a conscious effort to “have faith in the grapes”, and extract less from them, allowing the terroir to speak clearly. The results are exciting, the wines showing more grace, elegance and purity. It is clear that this is one of the success stories of the vintage.

Clos du Roy is a prime candidate for promotion to Premier Cru, should that happen in Marsannay. Dense purple in colour, the wine has equally dense dark red fruit on the nose. There is a lovely intensity to this, with multi-layered, succulent fruit, while also retaining finesse. The vines date from 1945, 1949 and up to 1970 for the youngest. Drink 2019-2027.
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer

Laurent Fournier has made beautiful wines in 2015, keeping him cheerful during the trickier 2016 growing season. He began with his whites on 8th September before attacking the reds, finishing by 16th September. There was no need for sorting the completely healthy grapes nor for extraction because all came out naturally. The wines have been matured in a mix of bigger and normal-sized barrels. There is also an excellent Bourgogne Rouge Le Chapitre.