2018 Domaine Fourrier, Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru, Clos Saint-Jacques Vieille Vigne

The 2018 Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Saint-Jacques 1er Cru is blessed with a very detailed bouquet of crushed stone intermixed with dark cherries, raspberry and hints of pain d’épices and gingerbread. You could keep nosing this all day. The palate is succulent on the entry, and the fleshy red fruit is infused with orange peel and marmalade. The slightly confit finish is quintessentially Fourrier. Very good length – but does the Combe Aux Moines dare to steal Clos Saint-Jacques’s crown this year?

Mid cherry red. Less open than the Cherbaudes and Goulots, a little darker fruited. Still floral, lightly peppery and with a sensation that is almost stony/chalky. On the palate, firm but lithe, gently chewy, elegant and wonderfully fresh and alive. I can't help suggesting an early date to start drinking as it is so lovely now even if it has many years ahead. (JH)

The nose draws you into the glass: crushed rocks, spice, bright cranberry and red-cherry fruit, dried herbs … layer after layer. Juicy, with plenty of fruit density, fairly fine, primary tannins and great length. A very fine young burgundy – though it should be at this price! (TJ)