This pours deep gold in the glass. Effervescence is quite light at this stage. The nose is mature and complex showing brioche, toffee, caramel, candied lemon peel, ripe pear, red apple, and a touch of yeast. The palate shows the dosage (I’d peg this at 8 g/l) which is nicely balanced against medium plus acid. The finish is nicely balanced and refreshing. Great bottle. Fully mature and drinking well.

This pours light straw in the glass. The nose is lifted and complex showing fresh cut green apple, candied lime, just a touch of vanilla wafer, a light touch of flinty reduction, and light chalky slate. The palate is lovely entering on bright citrus tinged acid and sweet vanilla tinged fruit. The finish nicely replays much of the nose with lovely texture and a gorgeous balance of citrus and orchard fruit. A very pleasant surprise and quite a nice bottle.

This pours light straw. The nose is lifted and complex showing flinty matchstick, lemon custard, fresh cut lemon, fresh pear, light spice accents, earthy mineral and airy rainwater. As this sat open more and mroe complexity turned up with the earth and spice in nice balance. The palate is lovely with notable extract and the spice, lemon custard, and earth turning up. The finish is lovely and lingers impressively. Just a great bottle from the master. Truly beautiful.

My first experience tasting Fourrier. This pours very light ruby in the glass. On initial pop the nose shows a fair bit of reduction, but that does dissipate. Over time a lightly carbonic, fruit forward profile emerges of light cherry, ripe raspberry, red currant, dry soil, and a lightly meaty character that is very Gevrey. The palate is light and structured showing bright red, lightly sour fruit, with medium minus tannin and medium acid. The finish does linger nicely. All in all this is quite young but I do expect positive development will happen. I believe this producer destems but still ferments whole berries. If true, this wine really speaks to that style. Really no spice to speak of, but bright red fruit and some meat. A good bottle but it doesn't totally convince me of the fourrier hype.

Second of two bottles purchased at auction. First bottle was DOA and this was pretty much the same. On popping the cork the wine smells strongly of vinegar, which is not something I often find despite people who sometimes say that old wine turns to vinegar. It pours light garnet with medium plus bricking. The nose is of decaying leaves, old furniture, VA, and the faintest hint of dried berries. The palate actually does show ever so slightly more life with bright medium plus acid and medium minus tannin and kisses of red berries. Given other positive notes I'll chalk this up to bad storage.

This is gorgeous and wide open on first pop, which came as a surprise to some at the table. It pours medium purple in the glass. The nose is highly aromatic and complex showing, caper brine, creosote, burnt wood, white pepper, grilled lamb, blueberry, blackberry, ink, scrubby underbrush, and slate. A wine you could just sit and smell for hours. The palate is structured with medium plus tannin and medium acid along a dark fruited finish. Great wine. Even better than I thought it would be. While the nose is wide open and there palate is enjoyable with food it is still very much built on the structure and I do suspect it will age well as well.

This bottle showed even just a little better than the last one. Pours super light in the glass, very light bricking. The nose features a very prominent ripe strawberry note accented by orange, petrol, dried rosemary, ripe cherry, and dry earth. The palate is light and elegant with low tannin, lush red fruit and some orange character along a finis that is medium plus in length. What a lovely wine! This turned out to be a head turner that really caught the attention of the table.

This pours medium garnet. The nose is evolved and complex showing old leather, dark dried cherry, old cedar, old furniture, a slight raisin note, a touch of coffee, and a slight nutty character. The palate is very silky in texture, no tannin remains with medium acid and much of the nose replayed on the finish. Great bottle if perhaps the ripeness a little high. The finish is very long, leathery and nutty.

This pours medium ruby with light bricking at the rim. The nose is complex and classic Sangiovese, showing leather, rosemary, dark cherry, wet hay, and forest floor. The palate is lovely with lush deep dark fruit with medium tannin and medium plus acid. Very enjoyable, open and at a nice stage in it's evolution.

This pours dark ruby in the glass with medium bricking. The nose is mature and low in complexity showing dark dried fruit, light elements of smoky firepit, slate, and old furniture. The palate is totally integrated with lush dark cherry fruit and medium minus tannin. A good wine in an enjoyable stage of it's development (in fact I wouldn't really age this much longer) but not exactly a top example of Cote Rotie, and certainly a far cry from the great 1991 La Mordoree.

Quite tired. Pretty much shot at this stage in its development, but also may have never been all that great.

Consistent with previous note. This does not taste 20 years old.

This pours light ruby in the glass with perhaps the ever so slightest bricking toward the rim. The nose is low intensity and low complexity of new leather, sour cherry, shoe polish, orange pekoe tea, forest twigs, peonies, and dry chalky soil. The palate reveals just a little more than the nose. It enters on silky red fruit married to medium minus tannin, medium acid, and a finish that shows light touches of orange pekoe tea, twigs and tart red fruit. All in all I was hoping to catch some of the early drinking '07 magic and this bottle really wasn't having it. Feels like it still must be fairly shutdown and could possibly use a little more time. I'd wait on this and keep your fingers and toes crossed it turns into something a little more interesting. I think I had higher hopes given the producer, vintage, and professional reviews, but will give it the benefit of the doubt at 92 even if I probably would be a point or two lower if tasted blind.