Tasted in Nuits with Erwan Faiveley, 8th December 2014.
Domaine Faiveley
8 Rue du Tribourg
21700 Nuits-Saint-Georges
Tel: +33 3 80 61 04 55
www.domaine-faiveley.com
Erwan on 2013:
“The Côte de Nuits yields were not bad, the Chalonnaise also wasn’t bad, but the Côte de Beaune was terrible.
“I’m very surprised by the quality of the wines when compared to the season’s weather. The vintage certainly wasn’t great everywhere, but the premier crus of Gevrey-Chambertin are excellent – actually Gevrey is excellent overall – though some other places not, for instance the Côtes Chalonnaise were difficult. But a great surprise, particularly the whites as they get nearer to the end of their elevage.
“The main problem for the Chalonnaise (Faiveley own 70 hectares) was that there was so much rain. Unlike the Côte d’Or where the vines are mainly on hillsides, there is much more flat land in the Chalonnaise, so the vines suffered more.
“In terms of pricing, the whites will have to go up a little, reflecting the 10-15% growth of négoce pricing, but the reds hardly changed so our pricing will mainly be the same.”
The wines…
The grand crus will probably start to be bottled in mid February, finishing by the end of April.
2013 Mercurey Clos de Myglands
Bottled just after the last harvest.
This is round and ripe, soft and inviting. Big and round in the mouth – almost surprisingly so. Actually this is quite massive – I’m pretty sure it would surprise a lot of label-drinkers, my only complaint is that maybe it’s too ripe!
A little darker fruit, more serious aromatics and more complexity too – excellent. I like this wine much more; lithe but intense flavour with fine depth. This is excellent!
2013 Pommard 1er Les Rugiens
A concentrated, almost textural nose, yet, aromatically a little tight. Intense, with no fat – then more intensity! There follows an excellent burst of mid-palate flavour coupled to a faint grain of tannin that grows as you head into the finish, but without ever dominating. Very, very good!
2013 Nuits St.Georges 1er Les Porrets St.Georges
Wider, darker fruit – again a little tight. Delightful, bright, intense flavours. Lots of acidity, but also brio and energy too. Complex and wide in the finish. Super!
2013 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cazetiers
The nose is deep but again rather tight. In the mouth again there’s great intensity and super fruit – just a little perturbed by some gas – but still a fine depth of dark flavour and complexity, flavour that has a little reprise in the finish. Super wine again.
From the Combe d’Orveaux.
Another modest nose but there’s complexity and it’s full of depth. Nice. Some CO2 again, but it doesn’t obscure a real extra depth of flavour and associated complexity. Really intense. I think this a ‘don’t miss’ wine.
Here is a much more open nose with fine complexity too. Similarly intense to the Echézeaux with more tannin and structure with a little ripe grain. Very fine but a wine for the patient…
2013 Latricières-Chambertin
Complex, but a much deeper aromatic than I was expecting – ah, reduction. Again there’s gas on the palate and some reductive flavour – but the finish is a very pretty thing.
2013 Mazis-Chambertin
Will probably leave this in tank for a few weeks before bottling, due to this reduction.
There’s also some reduction here, but it slowly lifts. The same on the palate, but at least this time without gas. It’s easy to see the muscle here and a faint tannic drag to the texture. A concentrated and rather mineral wine, but also a tight thing today. The finish, however, like the Latricières is lovely.
A different face of reduction with a biscuity nose that makes you think of oak. But there’s a fine aromatic depth and interest too that seems to be padded. Lots of action here; very impressive energy, complexity and intensity. This is excellent!
2013 Corton Clos des Cortons Faiveley
Three hectares of vines, planted at 12k per hectare, that yielded 38 hl/ha.
A fine and complex nose, seems to have a touch of pepper to go with the mineral and dark fruit notes. Big, round, intense but supple – lots of concentration here. Growing intensity too. A really super finish!
Les Blancs…
The first two wines here are much more interesting, to my palate, than their 2012 equivalents which (at-least pre-bottling) were a little flat and lacking energy. The Charlemagne always seems to ‘rock!’
A very deep but fresh and vibrant nose. Some gas, yet still a very silky wine of growing complexity with good intensity. A real extra class in the finish – complexity and length – really exceptional length. Excellent!
2013 Bâtard-Montrachet
The nose has some similarities but with more aromatic concentration. Again, quite a lot of gas on the tongue and a more obvious energy and complexity than the Bienvenues. Also very long but this is a more primary length. The quality of these two are very similar, just different expressions/shapes – Bâtard being bigger up-front, the Bienvenues with a more interesting finish. I have a slight preference for the Bienvenues.
“Very bad flowering here so we’ve ended up with virtually a half-harvest. But the wine is very concentrated due to the small grapes.”
Fine depth on the faintly oaked nose – but very, very inviting. Not so much gas in this instance, just rippling muscle, freshness and complexity. Here is a width of finishing flavour and more complexity than the Bâtard, maybe not more than the Bienvenues. Regardless – top wine!