TNs: an afternoon at Veuve Fourny et Fils

WINE TALK
1

We spent a very enjoyable afternoon at Veuve Fourny et Fils last Friday with Charles Fourny, one of the owners and vignerons. When we told him that we felt like we had a lot to learn about Champagne, he started from the bottom up and gave us a crash course in the vineyards, the caves, the winemaking facilities, and then tasting rooms.

My cursory notes can not begin to express how wonderful these visits have been for us. We’re accustomed to the U.S. tasting experience, but in France, it’s a completely different animal. In each case, the winemaker has basically welcomed us into his home and given us several hours of his busy day with absolutely no expectation of a tasting fee or any sort of direct purchase.

No formal notes, just some data and general impressions.

Champagnes Douces Vertus Sec Vertus Premier Cru
This has more sugar than any other Fourny wine, but the Fournys like their Champagne very dry and even their Sec is not what I’d call sweet. A touch of marzipan like the rosé, with apple and citrus rounding out the very fruity nose.

Champagne Grande Réserve Brut Vertus Premier Cru
80% Chardonnay, 20% Pinot Noir. Lemon, quince(?), minerals. High acid, very fresh and lively.

Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Vertus Premier Cru
Very chalky minerality, lemon. Not as chalky or precise on the palate as the nose implied, but still quite enjoyable.

Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature Vertus Premier Cru
More fruit, less minerality than the previous Blanc de Blancs. Intensely dry on the palate. I’d love this with a cheese plate.

Champagne Rosé Brut Vertus Premier Cru
I’ll admit that I’m a sucker for pink wines, but this was fantastic. Lovely pale pink, with cherry, rose petals, and marzipan. Good balance and freshness. Definitely put me in my happy place.

’02 Champagne Millésimé Blanc de Blancs Brut Vertus Premier Cru
Toast, yeast, citrus, and lots of chalk. Fantastic balance between lushness and acid on the palate.

Champagne Cuvée « R » de Veuve Fourny Extra Brut
90% Chardonnay, 5% Pinot Noir, 5% Pinot Meunier
This spends more time in oak than most of Fourny’s wines, and has a creamier, sweeter mouthfeel despite having almost no residual sugar. I preferred the Blanc de Blancs, but this is another great wine from Fourny.

2

Melissa,

Nice notes. Veuve Fourny does a great job IMO and all of the wines are of very high quality and good value for the price. Most are a touch too dry for me, but you have to marvel at the precision with which all the wines are made.

3

Thanks Brad, the Fournys definitely prefer their wines to have the lowest sugar concentrations possible. I don’t remember any of the numbers and didn’t write them down, but their sec could probably pass for a brut.

4

What a great post.
The notes were interesting but for me it was the other things you touched on that were the best.

You’re so right about the warm welcome you get in Champagne at all the small houses ( except of course when they are closed, which being France, they often are )

I agree with with also about trying champagne with cheese. I usually prefer to reach for the white wine, including champagne of course, when the cheese comes out.

Last but not least, I love champagne and reading posts about it. I lived and worked in Champagne for 10 years and so have a very soft spot in my heart for that wonderful place and its wines.

Jiles

5

Thanks Jiles. We only had a couple of days in Champagne-- how lucky you were to spend ten years there! I suspect we will go back many times.

6

Cool stuff, post more of the bubbly visits!

Did you get to keep the glass in the pic? Looks awesome for bubbles, like the Les Imp sans dimples.

1 Like
7

I love their wines, and my visit there earlier this year (pics here) was fantastic. A recent bottle of their Rose in NYC was just delicious.

8

Cool glass.

I need to get back to Champagne and visit some of the smaller growers. I loved the visits I made there in the 90’s but we really did the large and medium sized housel.

Thx for the notes and the picture. It really brought back the feeling of being there.

Al Fenster

9

Count me as a huge fan, too. Love their Rose, love their BdB, love the blends. Then again, low dosage are my favorites.

10

Hey Adam, are you going to La Paulee?

11

Heresy, I know, but this was our only tasting appointment in Champagne. This was more of a road trip than a tasting trip. We will definitely go back for an extended visit to Champagne and Burgundy.

We didn’t get to keep the glass, but Charles Fourny gave us something much better for the road-- a bottle of his '02 Millésimé Blanc de Blancs.

12

A couple more memories from our brief visit to Champagne…


Outside the Reims Cathedral. We were very grateful to Michel Abood for recommending that we go in. Even if you have total cathedral fatigue from seeing too many of them across Europe, the Chagall stained glass windows here are spectacular and worth your time.


We arrived a bit early for our tasting appointment at Fourny, so we walked around Vertus a bit. Cemeteries are fascinating in French villages-- you’ll see the same handful of family names dating back several centuries. Here is a memorial in the Vertus cemetery to locals who died as part of the resistance during WWII.

13

Steve,

That’s in Nov, as I recall, right? I’m in.