1999 Gevrey-Chambertin Cherbaudes 1er Cru

"Yes, yields were high in 1999," admitted Jean-Marie Fourrier, "but Nature gave noble tannins and great pinot fruit; the wines are a bouquet of flowers and pure fruits." Besides, he added, pinot can be outstanding at a production level of 40 hectoliters per hectare. "Above that it up to Nature." Fourrier does not believe in saignee or other methods of concentrating the must: "I'd rather understand the wine than try to control it." Fourrier aged his '98s on their lees until the bottling in April of 2000. I was struck on this visit by the pure, complex aromatics of the Fourrier wines, and by the way the wines accurately reflect their various sites.