Or, as Erwan Faiveley described it “the inaguration of a renovation!”

Faiveley have spared few Euros in the last years, significantly repositioning themselves from ‘maison’ to ‘domaine’ and with attention to every detail too. Strategically, a very important and astute move for their future.

Today (Tuesday evening the 1st March, 2016) we are at their winery in Mercurey, La Framboisière, the subject of nearly 3 years and €3.5 millon of renovations – note that Faiveley have always been a significant domaine here, responsible for 70 hectares of vines and for the last 80 years too*.

The basic shell is the same as the part-finished project I visited to taste with winemaker Julien Bordet almost 1 year ago – but now all the illumination for the parking, the wood cladding and the chinz is also in position. Here there is now the feel of an important Champagne house, a far cry from the discreet, old, sometimes dour facilities of many parts of Mercurey. But all the other producers of Mercurey syndicat were invited to this opening too – maybe we are about 100 – and that’s important, because we have something here that should help push up the renown not just of Faiveley but of the whole appellation too. You might say that Faiveley can’t do it on their own, but it seems to me that they are prepared to try!

The mayor of Mercurey, Dominique Juillot, described the facility as “A totem of excellence at the entry of our village” – I agree! And the timing is not bad either, as Mercurey will also be the heart of the Saint Vincent next January…

*The Faiveley family has been present in the Côte Chalonnaise for 4 generations. Georges Faiveley first farmed the land in Mercurey in 1933. His son Guy then firmly established the Faiveley family in the Côte Chalonnaise with the purchase of Domaine Colcombet in 1963.
Edit-Quote: Faiveley.