Clos St. Jacques - a gem of Gevrey-Chambertin - single bottle offer
For me its pretty clear that quality of the wines from Clos Saint-Jacques could quite easily justify a grand cru classification.
Steen Ohman, winehog.org
2001 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru, Clos St Jacques, Domaine Fourrier
£575 per bottle inclusive of duty and VAT
2006 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru, Clos St Jacques, Domaine Fourrier
£470 per bottle per bottle inclusive of duty and VAT
Clos St Jacques occupies a unique place in Burgundy. Officially a premier cru, it has long been regarded by many growers, critics and burgophiles as one of the most deserving candidates for Grand Cru status. Situated on a gently sloping, east-facing hillside immediately above the village of Gevrey-Chambertin, the vineyard benefits from exceptional drainage, limestone-rich soils and a notably sheltered mesoclimate. The wines combine the authority and mineral depth associated with the great Grands Crus of the Côte de Nuits with a degree of elegance and transparency that can be profoundly compelling.
The list of producers who have showcased the greatness of Clos St Jacques reads like a roll call of Gevrey-Chambertin's elite. Armand Rousseau remains the reference point for many collectors, producing wines of extraordinary refinement and longevity from this celebrated site. Yet alongside Rousseau, Domaine Fourrier has established itself as one of the vineyard's most faithful interpreters. Jean-Marie Fourrier's intuitive approach in the vineyard and cellar preserves the effortless expression of terroir for which the domaine is renowned. The result is Clos St Jacques of remarkable purity; wines that possess the vineyard's trademark silkiness and perfume without ever sacrificing depth or structure. In the finest vintages, Fourrier's Clos St Jacques sits comfortably alongside the greatest expressions from Rousseau and stands comparison with many Grand Crus from anywhere in Burgundy.
Today we are delighted to offer mature bottles of Domaine Fourrier's Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St Jacques from two quietly impressive vintages. We have secured just five bottles of the 2001 and three bottles of the 2006, all purchased from a longstanding private client and presented in remarkably fine condition. Available by the single bottle, they are also offered at the most competitive prices currently available in the market.
The 2001 vintage increasingly looks like one of Burgundy's great dark horses. Overshadowed for many years by the much-heralded 1999s and the more classical 2002s, the wines have developed with enormous charm. At twenty-five years of age, many 2001s are drinking beautifully, retaining freshness while displaying the savoury complexity and textural nuance that mature Burgundy lovers prize. The vintage possesses noticeably more substance and riper fruit than many 2000s, yet often shows a softer, rounder profile than the firmer, more tightly wound 2002s. Indeed, there are examples from 1999 which still seem reluctant to fully reveal themselves, remaining surprisingly reserved given their age, while the finest 2001s have entered what can only be described as a glorious drinking window.
I was fortunate enough to drink Fourrier's 2001 Clos St Jacques at a birthday dinner some years ago. Even in exalted company—referring to the wines rather than necessarily the guests 😊—it left a lasting impression. The wine possessed a haunting aromatic complexity, the sweetly perfumed red and black fruits gradually giving way to notes of sous-bois, spice, rose petal and that ineffable mineral character that great Gevrey can convey. There was no sense of fatigue, merely harmony and completeness.
The 2006 vintage, meanwhile, receives relatively little attention in Burgundy discussions today, perhaps unfairly. Whilst conditions across Burgundy were variable, many growers in the Côte de Nuits produced particularly successful wines. The Côte de Beaune often struggled with greater heterogeneity of ripeness and somewhat softer structures, whereas the generally thicker-skinned Pinot Noir of the Côte de Nuits benefitted from conditions that favoured generous fruit expression without excessive heaviness. As a result, villages such as Gevrey-Chambertin emerged as something of a sweet spot in the vintage, combining ripe fruit with sufficient structure and freshness to ensure graceful evolution.
For Fourrier's Clos St Jacques, these attributes align beautifully with the character of the vineyard. The 2006 captures the generosity of the year while retaining the finesse and mineral delineation that define the site. One imagines a wine entering a particularly rewarding phase of maturity, where primary fruit has softened into the more complex register of mature Burgundy while retaining enough underlying structure to continue evolving for years to come.
Finding current tasting notes for mature Burgundy can be frustrating. Even for wines as highly regarded as Fourrier's Clos St Jacques, meaningful notes from the last five or six years are surprisingly scarce. Yet perhaps this scarcity is part of the attraction. These are bottles that must largely be judged on provenance, producer, vineyard and vintage rather than recent critical commentary. In all four respects, the case is compelling.
For collectors who appreciate mature Burgundy, opportunities like this rarely present themselves. Clos St Jacques remains one of the Côte de Nuits' most compelling terroirs, Fourrier one of its most gifted interpreters, and both the 2001 and 2006 offer the chance to experience mature Gevrey-Chambertin at a stage where nuance, complexity and terroir expression take centre stage. Few wines illustrate more convincingly why Clos St Jacques has spent decades inviting comparisons with Burgundy's greatest Grand Crus.
2001 Gevrey-Chambertin, 1er Cru Clos St Jacques, Domaine Fourrier
£575 per bottle inclusive of duty and VAT
2006 Gevrey-Chambertin, 1er Cru Clos St Jacques, Domaine Fourrier
£470 per bottle per bottle inclusive of duty and VAT
Simon