Faiveley Wine Dinner at Donna’s

Mr. Vincent Avenel, the Export Director for Domaine Faiveley, was visiting Baltimore to promote Faiveley wines. Paul Cudone, the manage at the wine source and a great friend, kindly invited me to this wonderful event. I have been following and start to accumulate the Domaine wines since Mr. Bernard Hervet took the helm after leaving Bouchard. As evident in this tasting, the wines are very pure, pretty and have nice core structure. I originally planned to leave a bit early as I had another engagement, talking to Vincent was so enjoyable I ended up staying almost to the end. Vincent is a great taster and a passionate ambassador of Faiveley. He was hired by Bernard ten years ago to work for Bouchard and moved to Faiveley after Barnard’s departure. Bernard is not only a great wine maker but also havethe aptitude to recognize the talents. It was quite refreshing to meet a passionate and knowledgably wine lover who is bluntly honest.

The 10 whites were showing well, especially Mercurey Clos Rochette. Although I have not had too many 10 whites, this experience tells me that the 10 whites will be spectacular, having excellent concentration, pure fruits and mouth puckering acidity.

I thought I would have preferred the 09 reds but not so. The 10s were pure and pretty and nicely open for business where the 09s were intense and hedonistic. Two 09 GCs however were more delicate and pure.

It took me almost two hours from DC so this definitely quenched my thirst.

• 2010 Faiveley Montagny Blanc 88 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte Chalonnaise, Montagny

  Crisp, cool, lemon, bright acidity, nice mineral expression reminding a village Chablis. The palate mirrors the nose, clean, fresh and tar. A bit simple in overall expression.

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Wow, I need to buy the 10s. I highly recommend the 10 Clos Rochette.

• 2009 Faiveley Mercurey Clos Rochette Blanc 86 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte Chalonnaise, Mercurey

  Fat, a hint of mint, sweet and yellow fruits where the 10 displays white fruits. The fruit expression is relatively fresh, ie no tropical fruits. Fat palate but lacking acidity resulting in clumsy impression.

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• 2010 Faiveley Mercurey Clos Rochette Blanc 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte Chalonnaise, Mercurey

  Sulfur quickly blows off, showing some malo that doesn’t mask the purity, strong mineral presence, honeydew, a ripe apple slice and a hint of saline. Refreshing palate, a hint of spritz, stony, mouth puckering acidity and long finish. Excellent concentration and balance. Highly recommend for the Burgundy purist, all the elements that you find in a $50 meursault.

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I believe Peter Chiu, a passionate Burgundy lover, loves Faiveley Mercurey 1er Cru Clos des Myglands and I can see why. Delicious but also pretty serious.

• 2009 Faiveley Mercurey 1er Cru Clos des Myglands 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte Chalonnaise, Mercurey 1er Cru

  Fat, a hint of herb, crushed blackberries, blackberry jam and earth. Sweet palate, excellent concentration and nice integrated but noticeable tannins. Drinking well now, obviously darker primary fruit driven compare to the 10.

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• 2010 Faiveley Mercurey 1er Cru Clos des Myglands 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte Chalonnaise, Mercurey 1er Cru

  Nice contract to the 09, pretty and pure, raspberry water, mushroom, allspice and stem. Medium concentration, good acidity and nicely integrated tannins. This is pretty, vibrant and pure.

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I commented to Vincent that the influence of the vintage is much stronger than the vineyard and he agreed. However both of NSGs showed masculine rustic and earth characters.

• 2009 Faiveley Volnay 1er Cru Santenots 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru

  Toasted oak, blackberries, pretty red and black fruits, sap and earth. Medium concentration, sweet jammy fruits and nicely integrated tannins. Drinking well with upfront generous sweet fruits.

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• 2010 Faiveley Volnay 1er Cru Santenots 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru

  Excellent precision and purity. Red fruits, raspberry, red currants, a slight hint of fresh mint, spicy, sap and earth. Medium concentration, sap, nicely integrated acid and tannins. Lovely.

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• 2009 Faiveley Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Porêts Saint-Georges 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru

  Black fruits, a bit rustic, tree bark and sap. Good structure with strong presence of tannins. A classic NSG impression for me.

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• 2010 Faiveley Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Porêts Saint-Georges 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru

  Strong mineral note, also earth, pure red fruits also noticeable cedar element. Overall firmer and earthier expression than the 10 Volnay Santenots.

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I thought these were a point or two better than the Volnay and the NSG.

• 2009 Faiveley Pommard 1er Cru Les Rugiens 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard 1er Cru

  Nice to have a reference point, it is rounder and warmer than the 09 NSG Les Porets. Showing black fruits but also some reds, nutmeg and other sweet spices, simply grilled mushrooms and wet earth. Pleasantly bright for the vintage and displaying firm structure. Look forward to tasting in 10+ years.

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• 2010 Faiveley Pommard 1er Cru Les Rugiens 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard 1er Cru

  Intense bright red fruits, also round and warm and sappy. The fruit seems extra beautiful here. Excellent concentration and nice balance. Although it is a big scale wine, it is quite delicate. Lovely wine that will need time to develop.

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These wines were really educational clearly demonstrating the significance of the GC terroirs and their ability to transcend the strong vintage influence.

• 2009 Faiveley Echezeaux 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru

  A great thing about GCs is the ability to transcend the typical vintage characters even in 2009. Vosne spice, tea leaf, sweet sappy fruits, raspberry and blackberry essence, nutmeg and earth. Slight spritz, intensely sweet sappy fruits, silky, bright acidity and sweet but firm tannins. Although plush, there is a firm structure in the background. It will show beautifully with 15+ years of cellaring. Great QPR, relatively speaking of course, under $130.

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• 2009 Faiveley Latricières-Chambertin 95 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Latricières-Chambertin Grand Cru

  Once again transcending the vintage, delicate and decadent. Warm red fruits, raspberry preserve, also fresh raspberry, light caramel, butter and sweet spices. Beautiful silky palate, seamless and long lingering finish. Not intense but very tasty and hedonistic even at this young. I can drink whole bottle of this but will age well. Reminds me the 02 Domaine Denis Bachelet Charmes VV that I had a month ago in delicate yet decadent light caramel impression.

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It was extrremly interesting and educational to compare the 09s to the 10s. Although small samples, 2010 both red and white are great.