Size & Type
Other
$813
The 2022 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru is deep and chunky, offering up aromas of burning embers, dark berries, orange zest, violets and spices. Full-bodied, layered and muscular, with a blocky core of fruit and tannin despite very gentle extraction, it will reward a bit of patience.
William Kelley, The Wine Advocate 92-94 AM 92-95 JM 92-95
In the Middle Ages, the monks of Cîteaux undertook works on this Clos which is surrounded by small drystone walls. It took them over 2 centuries to build the Clos as we know it today. The demarcation of the Clos was defined in the 14th century and the boundary wall was built in the 15th century. 82 owners currently share the 50 hectares of this iconic Burgundian clos. We own 3 parcels here, an indication of the sheer complexity of Bourgogne. 2 parcels are situated in the lower part of the clos and the 3rd in the centre of the clos near to the château.
Exposition East, South-East
Soil Deep marl soils
Surface area 1 ha 26 a 69 ca [3,14 Acres]
Years the vines were planted 1940, 1974, 1980, 1981, 2013
The grapes are harvested and sorted by hand. The proportion of de-stemmed grapes and whole clusters varies depending on the vintage. The wines are punched down daily in order to extract colour, tannins and aromas from the skin of the grapes. After a 19 day vatting period, the alcoholic fermentation is complete. The free-run wine is run off using a gravity system whilst the marc is pressed slowly and gently in order to extract an exceptionally pure press wine. The wines are aged for 16-18 months in French oak barrels (60% new oak and 40% one-wine barrels) which have been selected for their fine grain and moderate toast. The wines are left to age in our cellars at consistent, natural hygrometry and temperature.
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.
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.
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 setWilliam Kelley, The Wine Advocate
“All other things being equal, I would recommend going large in 2022, large in the sense of a broad range because there are so many really good wines at all levels.”
Jasper Morris MW
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.
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!
Detailed Map of Faiveley’s Côte de Beaune Holdings
Detailed Map of Faiveley’s Côte de Nuits Holdings
Check out all the Article on Burgundy!
The 2022 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru is deep and chunky, offering up aromas of burning embers, dark berries, orange zest, violets and spices. Full-bodied, layered and muscular, with a blocky core of fruit and tannin despite very gentle extraction, it will reward a bit of patience.
Relatively generous wood fights somewhat with the distinctly earthy, ripe and fresh nose that blends both red and dark pinot fruit. I very much like the texture of the solidly concentrated and sappy larger-bodied flavors that exhibit good power on the balanced, youthfully austere and compact finale. While qualitatively similar to the Ech, the two wines offer very different expressions. Sweet spot Outstanding Drink: 2034+
Where in the world does the magic happen?
Domaine Faiveley, Rue du Tribourg, Nuits-Saint-Georges, France
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