Domaine Faiveley Bienvenues Bâtard Montrachet Grand Cru 2022

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

This area was a quarry up until the 12th century. Montrachet’s reputation rose in the 17th century thanks to the Cistercian abbey of Maizières and the Lords of Chagny. In 1700, Major Intendent Ferrand advised the Duke of Burgundy by informing him that the kingdom’s best wines were grown in this province. The Faiveley family purchased this parcel in 2008 at the same time as the Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru parcel.

Exposition East
Soil Fine brown soils, hard limestone
Surface area 0 ha 50 a 57 ca [1,25 Acres]
Years the vines were planted 1980

The grapes are harvested and sorted by hand. The musts are extracted using a pneumatic press before being settled. Vinification lasts 4 weeks and takes place in French oak barrels (50-60% of which are new oak) in our cellars at consistent, natural temperatures and hygrometry. The wines are stirred frequently in order to keep the wine in contact with the lees and then aged for 18 months. This enables them to retain excellent tension and aromatic complexity as well as a smooth, delicate palate.

About Faiveley

Based in Nuits-St-Georges, the famous Domaine Faiveley was founded in 1825 and in more recent times, the domaine has greatly expanded its vineyards across the entire Côte d’Or. The grapes are entirely destemmed and fermented in a mix of new wooden vats for the top end wines and stainless steel for the lesser cuvées. Once notorious for being fairly austere, there has been less emphasis on extraction over the last ten years and the wines show increased freshness, purity of fruit and more judicious use of oak. A contender for one of the most improved domaines in Burgundy over the last decade.

The Evolution of Faiveley

Erwan Faiveley made two important announcements a few years ago.

The first was that a new state-of-the-art cuverie was operational. It is elegant, spacious and efficient and will offer the inestimable advantages of room to work, which is rarely the case in Burgundy’s often cramped wineries.

The second was arguably more important in that it heralds a change in style. Long-time readers may remember that in 2007 the Domaine made the dramatic decision to change the style of its reds, which up to that point could be fairly described as unapologetically old school. In other words, reds that were firmly structured, sturdy and built-to-age for the long-term. In 2007 this at times rustic style was discarded in favour of wines that possessed more elegance and finesse in the hopes of creating more supple burgundies that required less long-term cellaring.

“While we like the current style and what it offers, for several years we were feeling that perhaps we had strayed too far from our roots. To this end, we finally asked if there might not be a way to combine the two in a way that remained true to our history but didn’t require 20 years before the wines were completely ready to drink. So now we’re looking for more density and riper tannins while doing our best to retain a more refined mouthfeel. To achieve this we’re harvesting a few days later in the search for a higher level of phenolic maturity and then vinifying the fruit in a fashion that reduces forced extraction and emphasizes natural extraction. In other words, we will take what the fruit has to give in any given vintage without forcing more out of it that often results in overtly extracted wines.” Faiveley

Erwan Faiveley, the seventh generation owner of one of Burgundy’s largest grand cru site holders, Domaine Faiveley, is making a sharp turn away from his father’s big and tannic winemaking style. After 13 years at the helm of the family estate, the dynamic Burgundy scion confessed that it was only in 2012 that he began to achieve exactly what he wanted in terms of style and concentration.

The 2022 Vintage by Faiveley

I met with both co-president Erwan Faiveley and technical director Jérôme Flous, who commented that “while the 2022 growing season was mostly hot and dry, that doesn’t mean that it didn’t have its variations. For example, there was hail in Gevrey and the south side of Nuits but basically none elsewhere. Moreover, the Côte de Nuits had a massive June storm, again especially in Gevrey, but basically the farther south you go, there was less and less rainfall. The differences have implications for the style of wine that was produced as there were subtle differences in ripeness levels.

We picked from the 29th of August, beginning with the chardonnay in the Côte de Beaune and then attacking the Côte de Nuits pinot on the 1st of September. Yields were generally quite good at between 38 to 40 hl/ ha though lower in Gevrey. Potential alcohols were very good as they ranged from 12.8 to 13.5%, which is pretty much textbook for modern burgundy. We chose to use around 20 to 25% whole clusters except for the Musigny, which was around 50%. Stylistically, the whites are absolutely classic, in fact they could be the best that we’ve ever made, they are that good.

The reds aren’t quite at the same level though they are still excellent as they are ripe while remaining fresh and bright with good energy and terroir transparency. Though it’s hard to know until they’re bottled, they appear to offer the attractive benefit of being accessible young while having the stuffing and balance to age for basically as long as anyone would care to do so. The 2022 reds might reasonably be compared to our 2017s.” I was impressed with the quality I found here and a number of the wines are warmly recommended. Though they were presented as they hadn’t yet been assembled, there will be a Clos de Bèze Cuvée Les Ouvrées Rodin, as well as the Chambolle 1ers of Les Fuées and Les Amoureuses.

Allen Meadows, Burghound.com

Jérôme Flous and his team have produced another compelling range of 2022s, and it’s hardly surprising, given the high level of vineyard management chez Faiveley or the skill and precision brought to bear in the winery and the cellar. As is often the case up and down the Côte d’Or, the style is more delicate and sensual than was the case in 2020, and the wines seem set

William Kelley, The Wine Advocate

There was a tiny bit of frost in April, very localized in Givry, a couple of plots on Puligny, head winemaker Jérôme Flous tells me in their tasting room on the fringe of Nuits Saint-Georges. Faiveley owns several buildings in the locality that sit over their capacious barrel cellars housing their numerous cuvées.

“The most important factor was in the middle of June. It changed the vintage. We had a lot of rain, but the amount was not the same across the region. In Côte Chalonnaise, it was around average, more in Côte de Beaune and then the most in the Côte de Nuits. In some places, there was three or four times as much as usual. Usually, it is 60mm, but in Nuits Saint-Georges, there was 250mm that was absorbed by the clay soils. We were lucky because there was no rain after that, and therefore, there was more stress in the south of the Côte d’Or and in the Côte Chalonnaise, where the fruit is blacker. We had some hail in Gevrey-Chambertin, but there was not a large amount of damage since there was a lot of water. Summer was like 2020, warm and dry.

We started the harvest on August 29 in Puligny and Corton, and we finished September 10. It was a normal fermentation after just a little sorting by hand. Vinification was quite fast, between 12 and 15 days. The pH is over 3.6 for all the cuvées, so I prefer to age the wines with good levels of sulfur to protect them against brettanomyces or spoilage. Most of the wines will be bottled in March.” I felt that Flous imbued his 2022s with more refinement compared to prior vintage, exemplified by his Mazis-Chambertin that surpasses the Clos-de-Bèze, albeit by a whisker, and Flous is convinced that it is the long-term runner. Some feel they don’t quite reach their full potential, such as the Chambolle Charmes, which felt a bit under-nourished, though others, like the Nuits Saint-Georges La Damode, display great potential.

Neal Martin, Vinous

The videos below explore each of the seasons following the full cycle of the vine and wine at Domaine Faively.

Faiveley’s Wines & Vineyards

Faively’s vast holdings stretch from the very top of the Côte d’Or through the Côte de Nuits, Côte de Beaune and into the top of the Côte Chalonaise with Pinot holdings in Mercurey. Below are maps of their terroirs. You can enlarge them and explore the regions and vineyards. We’re writing a series of primers on each of the main villages in Burgundy and on Burgundy in general you can check out where we’re up to in the Wine Bites Mag.

Check out all the Article on Burgundy!

Faiveley Grand & 1er Crus de la Côte de Beaune

Detailed Map of Faiveley’s Côte de Beaune Holdings

Faiveley Grand & 1er Crus de la Côte de Nuits

Detailed Map of Faiveley’s Côte de Nuits Holdings

Check out all the Article on Burgundy!