2016 Domaine Faiveley Cellar Release Offer
Please Note: This offer is subject to allocations. Stocks will be limited. First in best dressed. You will only be billed once your allocation is 100% confirmed.
Please put your wishlist in and we’ll do our best to meet your request.
Prices have surged between 2016 and 2019
Up 20-25% & …
with demand from China they’re only going 1 way!
We are able to offer the 2016’s at close to their original prices.
The Evolution of Faiveley
Erwan Faiveley made two important announcements in October.
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.
From a winemaker’s perspective, this is the difference between being able to easily do the 1 percenters during the busiest time of the years and having to skip them purely due to winery setup.
Faiveley noted that the 2016s were vinified in the new facility but the élevage was still on-going in the vast old cellars.
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 2016 Vintage by Faiveley
With respect to the 2016 vintage, like many of his colleagues, Faiveley reported that “yields were super-disparate due to the capriciousness of the frost damage and volumes ranged from basically normal to almost none. We obtained good yields in the Cote Chalonnaise but almost nothing in Marsannay, Chambolle and Echézeaux. The Côte de Beaune was difficult as well and in particular Meursault though Blagny wasn’t too bad. We avoided any real damage from the subsequent severe attack of mildew though that was thanks to a lot of work in the vineyards. We began picking our lower level wines on the 24th of September and then started bringing in the 1ers and Grands Crus at the beginning of October. The fruit was very clean and definitely ripe as we had potential alcohols that came in as high as 13.7%. We used relatively low amounts of whole clusters in general but because of the tiny quantities for a few wines, we used 100%. We did a moderately soft vinification as the skins were thick and the extractions happened almost by themselves. The acidities were pretty much ideal as the average post-malo pHs matched those of the average total acidity right at 3.5. As to the wines, I am really excited about them because I honestly believe that 2016 is a great vintage that has everything that most people look for in red Burgundy”. For the last several years I have been quite impressed by the improved quality of the Faiveley wines and it continued in the 2016 vintage. In particular, their range of wines from the Côte Chalonnaise offer both excellent quality and value.
The video bellow is matched by three others (at the end of the offer) exploring each of the seasons following the full cycle of the vine and wine at Domaine Faively.
The Wines
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
About the Wines
Faiveley Grand & 1er Crus de la Côte de Nuits
Detailed Map of Faiveley’s Côte de Nuits Holdings
2016 Domaine Faiveley Chambertin “Clos De Bèze” Grand Cru – Score: 93-96, Tasted: Jan 15, 2018, Drink 2036+, Issue 69 – Don’t miss!
Note: from a 1.29 ha parcel. This is softly oaky with a wonderfully spicy array of black cherry, pungent earth and evident sauvage nuances that can be found on the impressively rich and seductively textured broad-shouldered and concentrated flavors that coat the palate with extract, all wrapped in a balanced, long and deep finish. I very much like the way this fans out on the strikingly persistent finish. Note that plenty of patience is a requisite here and it would be largely pointless to open a bottle before its 10th anniversary.
2016 Domaine Faiveley Corton “Clos Des Cortons” Grand Cru (Monopole) – Score: 92-95, Tasted: Jan 15, 2018, Drink 2036+, Issue 69 – Sweet spot
Touches of wood and menthol can be found on the brooding and inexpressive nose of plum, dark cherry liqueur, freshly turned earth and a gamy note. There is an appealing sense of underlying tension to the concentrated big-bodied flavors that also coat the palate with dry extract while exhibiting excellent length on the balanced and very firmly structured finale. Patience strongly advised.
2016 Domaine Faiveley Latricières Chambertin Grand Cru – Score: 93-95, Tasted: Jan 15, 2018, Drink 2031+, Issue 69 – Don’t miss!
Note: from a very large 1.21 ha parcel. Here too the wood treatment is subtle yet just prominent enough to warrant pointing out on the cool, pure and notably more sauvage nose of both red and dark wild berry and earth scents. There is a really lovely sense of underlying tension suffusing the much more mineral-driven middle weight flavors that are not quite as rich but notably more precise on the chiseled and wonderfully refined finish. Textbook.
2016 Domaine Faiveley Mazis Chambertin Grand Cru – Score: 92-95, Tasted: Jan 15, 2018, Drink 2036+, Issue 69
Note: from both Mazis Haut and Bas where the two parcels total a remarkable 1.20 ha. A pungent nose of wood and reduction renders the nose impossible to evaluate fairly. Otherwise there is a super-sleek and intense palate impression to the imposingly-scaled flavors that possess more size and weight if slightly less minerality than those of the Latricières while flashing excellent length on the moderately austere finish. This is also textbook.
2016 Domaine Faiveley Clos De Vougeot Grand Cru – Score: 92-95, Tasted: Jan 15, 2018, Drink 2033+, Issue 69 – Sweet spot
Note: blended from 3 separate parcels. Here too the wood treatment isn’t subtle though it doesn’t completely mask the mostly red berry fruit, earth and humus aromas. Once again there is both good volume and mid-palate density to the mouth coating big-bodied flavors that flash a mild touch of rusticity on the impressively long finale. Interestingly, this is a bit less youthfully austere than it usually is and overall, color me impressed.
2016 Faiveley Charmes Chambertin Grand Cru – Score: 92-94, Tasted: Jan 15, 2018, Drink 2028+, Issue 69
Note: from Charmes proper; from yields of only 18 hl/ha. Much more subtle though by no means invisible oak sets off beautifully layered aromas of plum, spice, earth and a whiff of underbrush character. There is terrific richness and density to the velvet-textured and voluminous flavors that possess a real sense of mid-palate density thanks to the abundant level of dry extract that also buffers the moderately firm tannic spine. This is at once a relatively elegant version of the appellation yet it is also altogether serious.
2016 Domaine Faiveley Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru ‘Aux Chaignots’ – Score: 90-92, Tasted: Jan 15, 2018, Drink 2026+, Issue 69
Note: vinified with 25 to 30% whole cluster. An overtly spicy and floral nose combines a touch of wood with plum, blueberry and earth nuances. There is fine intensity to the relatively refined medium weight flavors that possess good drive and evident salinity on the austere and somewhat strict finish. This will definitely need at least a few years of age as it’s presently very tightly wound.
2016 Domaine Faiveley Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru ‘Les Porets St Georges’ – Score: 90-92, Tasted: Jan 15, 2018, Drink 2028+, Issue 69
The airy and expressive nose is compositionally similar to that of the Damodes if perhaps with few spice elements. By contrast there is a bit more size and weight to the caressing medium weight flavors that possess a beguiling mid-palate texture though the natural rusticity of Porrets comes up on the nicely complex and lingering finish. This is very likely to tighten up considerably once in bottle so patience will be required here too.
1er Crus de la Côte de Beaune
Detailed Map of Faiveley’s Côte de Beaune Holdings
2016 Domaine Faiveley Pommard 1er Cru ‘Les Rugiens’
2016 Domaine Faiveley Volnay 1er Cru Santenots
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