Marsannay

Marsannay, Cuvée St Urbain is a blend from various sites. It shows a fine midpurple colour, with dense rich fruit on the nose with some dark notes. Elegant and lively, the fruit spreads out very well across the palate, silky and delicious.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director

One of the brightest talents in the northern Côte de Nuits is Laurent Fournier who runs the estate which carries his father’s name, as well as being the man in charge of the dossier for defining some Premier Cru vineyards in Marsannay. We have been hugely impressed with his wines for several years and are now offering them En Primeur for the first time. There is a quality of fruit here which fully reflects the joys of the Côte de Nuits, yet at rather more affordable prices.

Lovely, glowing, fresh, purple colour; this has a fabulous cherry and raspberry nose, clear pure fruit. With a little structure to keep it honest, this is otherwise very easy and appealing, with a nice touch of freshening acidity. Compelling at this price.

“Those who did the work in the vineyards will find it paid off in 2014”, opines Laurent Fournier. There is no problem with concentration if the yields were reasonable. He went through the vineyards twice, at the end of August and again just before picking, to remove any bunches he was not happy with. Even then he discarded two small plots of Clos du Roy so as to ensure that what made it to barrel, and then bottle, was first-rate. As indeed it is.

This is an assemblage of village vineyards and younger (but not young) vines of the hoped-for, future Premiers Crus. With lively raspberry, cherry and alpine strawberry notes, the wine has a silky texture and fine, long finish. Drink 2018-2023.
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.

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.

Brilliant purple in colour, with a hugely seductive nose of dark red fruit and violets. Of all their single vineyard wines, this has the most stuffing without losing elegance. Marsannay, Le Clos du Roy has a beautiful finish with well integrated tannins.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director

One of the brightest talents in the northern Côte de Nuits is Laurent Fournier who runs the estate which carries his father’s name, as well as being the man in charge of the dossier for defining some Premier Cru vineyards in Marsannay. We have been hugely impressed with his wines for several years and are now offering them En Primeur for the first time. There is a quality of fruit here which fully reflects the joys of the Côte de Nuits, yet at rather more affordable prices.

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.

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.