Pierre Morey/Fourrier Dinner at La Paulée de Los Angeles

This was another Côte de Beaune/Côte de Nuits dual domain dinner at one of the Walter and Marguerite Manzke (République) offshoots. Everything from the passed amuses to each individual course was superb, and this was a convivial, educational, and inspiring evening. I was fortunate to be seated at a table with Anne Morey, who was representing the domain, and she was delightful, open, and forthcoming despite fighting through jet lag.

• 2010 Pierre Morey Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

  Full yellow. Regal aromas with a touch of herb. You could tell from the nose that this was something special. Medium to full bodied, layered and gorgeously textured. Seamless, unforced sweetness, and bright citrus. Outstanding acidity and incredible finishing stone. Now that is minerality! Youthful, explosive, and everything you’d dream of in a great Perrières. The best of the 6 whites by a country mile, easily eclipsing the Batards.

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• 2008 Pierre Morey Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

  Deep yellow. Laid back but fresh aromas without any nuttiness. Even rounder attack than the 2010 with some wood, downplayed fruit, subtle creaminess, and an estery note. Terrific acidic core and a dusty, lemony finish. Not quite as spherical and harmonious as the 2010 with slight harshness on the finish, but this is excellent at the least. Loved these first 2 wines.

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• 2007 Pierre Morey Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

  Almost golden. Mellow, nutty, some caramel, and interestinghigher distillate tones. Medium weight, lighter and somehow more tender than its younger stablemates. Lightest of the three but still sappy and not a slight wine at all. Less depth, tension, and drive. This has begun to attenuate and shows more oak astringency on the finish.

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• 2014 Pierre Morey Bâtard-Montrachet

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

  Full yellow. Leesy, lactic fragrance. Medium weight, creamy mid-palate. Zesty sweet citrus, excellent acidity, not nearly as much minerality as in the Perrières. Complex, restrained, relatively delicate, and complete. Despite all these positives, it did not inflame the senses. Surely excellent though.

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• 2005 Pierre Morey Bâtard-Montrachet

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

  Slightly lighter color. Toastier aromas with obvious depth. Medium+ body. More citric and less leesy than the 2014, but more wood evident. I love the juiciness, lively citrus, and fluidity, but it it comes up a little short in terms of drive and power. It does improve in the glass, but this is completely mature and won’t get better from here.

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• 2003 Pierre Morey Bâtard-Montrachet

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

  Dark yellow color. Faint citrus. Rich and superficially creamy, only average acidity, and much looser than any of the other Morey wines-it is 2003 after all. Narrow breadth of flavors and a monotonously oaky finish. You get the idea.

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• 2019 Domaine Fourrier Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques Vieille Vigne

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru

  Deep ruby. Ripe, heady aromas. Shockingly full, rich, and chocolatey for a Gevrey wine. Dark cherry, licorice, savory notes, smokiness, and some alcoholic heat. Very tannic finish. I am not used to CSJ being heavy, but this is the largest scaled one I’ve ever had. A lot going on, but will it wind up being a great wine for the ages or just an overripe mess? I can’t say, and I think it will take another 20+ years to answer that question since the wine is so massive and young now.

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• 2017 Domaine Fourrier Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques Vieille Vigne

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru

  Light ruby. Open, fragrant menthol. Wow, what a difference in weight and feel!! Medium to light bodied, fine long thread of soil. Classic blend of dull red berry, earth, tangy herb, excellent acidity, and light tannins. Delicate and subtle, no excess sweetness. Tasting this after the 2019 provides quite the shoch and shows what a freak of nature that wine is. Give me this today and for the next fifteen years. Best of the 3 CSJ vintages. Surprise-another beautiful 2017.

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• 2015 Domaine Fourrier Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques Vieille Vigne

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru

  Same saturation as 2017. Aromas of soil and herb at first, then more fruit, including citrus peel, later. Weight somewhere between the first 2 vintages. Clearly a sweeter, riper entry than the 2017, but this has nice tanginess as well. Blue and black fruit, solid acidity, moderate ripe tannins, and soil that runs the length of the wine in a refined way. Anise twist that is not as prominent as in the 2019. At once, excellent density and a sense of elegance. More than approachable tonight, but not nearly as expressive as the 2017. This is clearly outstanding too and will be a marvelous, rather chewy CSJ with more time in bottle. I would hold this at least until its 20th birthday.

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• 2016 Domaine Fourrier Griotte-Chambertin Vieille Vigne

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Griotte-Chambertin Grand Cru

  Dull ruby. Almost candied red fruit and herb. Medium bodied, gorgeous flowing feel with a long vein of clay. Dark, tangy fruit, outstanding acidity, wonderful concentration of chocolatey and licorice flavors to complement things. Amazingly seamless at 8 years of age. A knockout now with the guts and exquisite equipoise to improve for several decades. Special!

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• 2015 Domaine Fourrier Griotte-Chambertin Vieille Vigne

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Griotte-Chambertin Grand Cru

  Light ruby. Restrained dark fruit and gentle fennel aromas. Lighter weight attack. Earthy fine cherry fruit, less round and mouth filling than the 2016. Shorter and not as full of soil as that wine either. Saline and poised for further development, just not quite at the level of the younger vintage.

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• 2011 Domaine Fourrier Griotte-Chambertin Vieille Vigne

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Griotte-Chambertin Grand Cru

  Clear ruby center. Complex, forthcoming scents of wintergreen and soil. Medium weight and as soil laced as the 2016. Here are the namesake sour cherries with beautiful ripeness. That wonderful fruit has a brambly edge accompanied by fantastic, well incorporated acidity, with the finish being shaped more by that acidity than the low to moderate level of tannin. The texture in the mouth is superb and the finish long, complex, and satisfying. Another exciting wine that seems just on this side of full maturity. One of the greatest 2011 reds I’ve had. Quite a way to finish this tasting.

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My summary of the Morey wines we tasted is pretty simple insofar as I strongly preferred the incredible minerality and depth of the Meursault Perrières (2010!!) to the creamier, higher alcohol style of the 3 Batards.

As for the Fourrier wines, while I had tasted a number of their Clos St. Jacques before, I had had only had one vintage of the Griotte previously. The 2017 CSJ was prototypically outstanding and absolutely delightful, but the best 2 vintages of Griotte were sublime and at an even higher level with a really unusual, unique flavor profile and completely alluring texture. I feel so fortunate to have tried these great wines. For what it’s worth, neither of the 2015s stole the show; are they just at an unflattering stage now or falling short of expectations?