Faiveley vs. Jadot: 1993 vs.1996
Hong Kong Country Club
Tasted Thursday, September 25, 2014 by Goldstone with 683 views
Introduction
An HKWS event organised by Nigel Bruce with notable help from several other members. Nigel had arranged for all the wines to be opened at Midday and decanted at least 2 hours before we tasted them...... a mark of the vintages, which indeed showed they are still works in progress. Notable that nearly all the wins were Domaine wines owned by the two producers, who are generally better known as negociants. It was ironic, then, that the Group WOTN was one of only two negociant bottlings.
Flight 1 - Pre-Dinner Tasting (11 Notes)
One bottle of each wine between 18 participants.
Flight 2 - Carpaccio of Scallops with Sea Urchins & Black Olive Tapenade (1 Note)
This was a drop-dead starter course and perfectly matched the impressively good Meursault, which had the higher than usual acidity for a Meursault to take on the Sea Urchin.
Flight 3 - Roasted Duck Breast, Crispy Skin with Honey, Seasonal Vegetables, Red Wine Sauce (2 Notes)
Everyone purred about the quality of the duck...... as Chef explained, a large Vendee region duck of around 6KG that he had marinated in red wine and slow-cooked in 3 separate stages. A super complement to the two great red Burgundies.....one of which (the Faiveley) had featured in the tasting but universally scored higher from a different bottle and with food.
Flight 4 - Cheese: Langres de Champagne/Bourgogne (1 Note)
Four great strong cheeses.....Epoisses and two others from Burgundy plus a lovely chesse from the Champagne region. A bold and surprising pairing with the 'other' white grape of Bourgogne..... but the amazing vitality and acidic freshness of the 18 year-old vielles vignes Aligote cut through it all like a sharp knife. Quite a revelation.
Flight 5 - Petit Fours (1 Note)
The Chocolate and Macaroons went superbly with the Port.....thanks Vernon.
Closing
The quality of the food at the HK Country Club was exceptionally high and extremely well-matched to the wines. The service was impeccable too, especially with over 300 (16 x 18) wine glasses to administer. Special thanks too to Vernon for the Port and Clement for the amazing Aligote.
1996 Louis Jadot Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Baudes Domaine Gagey 88 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru
Pre-dinner blind tasting.....all wines had been decanted for several hours. Transparent, slightly bricking colour. Nose of sous-bois and new 'Hunter' wellington boots (note: Aigle rubber boots, whilst French, smell different). Palate is vert tart, tannic but with good fruit and some dry woodland back end. Some resonance. My #6 of 11: Group #7.
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1996 Faiveley Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers 88 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru
Pre-dinner blind tasting.....all wines had been decanted for several hours. Transparent and bright in colour, orange-tinged at the meniscus. Nose is excellent....earthy, very strawberry compote. Palate is in sharp contrast.... tart, thin, lacking in body, very tight. Little resonance. My #7 of 11; Group #9.
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1996 Louis Jadot Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques Domaine Louis Jadot 87 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru
Pre-dinner blind tasting.....all wines had been decanted for several hours. Youngest colour of the night so far... almost purplish, translucent. Nose is very tight and closed...tight as a drum. Palate is sharp, prickly on the tongue, very young, almost inky....very sharp, tight and young. Not surprisingly, it was too closed to display any resoncance or reverb. My #9 of 11: Group #5.
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1996 Faiveley Mazis-Chambertin 87 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru
Pre-dinner blind tasting.....all wines had been decanted for several hours. Very light and bright transparent red colour with an orange hue at the rim. Nose is ferns....... very tight but there are classy sous bois and woodland wild strawberries lurking in the background broodingly. Palate is very light in the mouth, quite sharp,tannic but light, very closed. Unyeilding in terms of resonance or reverberance. My #10 of 11: Group #9.
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1993 Faiveley Chambertin-Clos de Bèze 92 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru
Pre-dinner blind tasting.....all wines had been decanted for several hours. Transparent Ribena in colour, less bright than some, suggesting it is a 1993. Nose is just lovely.....light, perfumed, elegant, very open....the best nose so far. Palate is light and half-rounded, the most open so far, great depth of fruit but a classic elegant lightness...gorgeous. Too young to display much resonance on the finale. My #1 of 11: Group #4.
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1993 Louis Jadot Corton-Pougets Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot 91 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru
Pre-dinner blind tasting.....all wines had been decanted for several hours. Jeweled bright ruby red transparent in colour. Nose is closed but deeply alluring..... Spanish perfume water and dusty attics. Palate is absoultely lovely in mouthfeel, open round, fleshy, perfumed. Lovely. Resonant on the finish. A treat. My #2 of 11; Group #8. I shall seek this out as it is great QPR value.
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1993 Faiveley Corton-Clos des Cortons Faiveley 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru
Pre-dinner blind tasting.....all wines had been decanted for several hours. Very bright and clean, transparent colour. Nose is warm and welcoming fruit and woddland undergrowth, quite big, a bit simple. Palate is light but rather tannic, quite open, heady and resonant, good fruit and poised balancing acidity. Resonant and reverberant. i liked it. My #4 of 11: Group #6. It was much more alluring when drank over dinner.
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1996 Faiveley Corton-Clos des Cortons Faiveley 86 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru
Pre-dinner blind tasting.....all wines had been decanted for several hours. Very clean and bright transparent colour....like dilute Ribena. Nose is closed but obviously muscular.....tannic, smell of bicycle inner tubes. Palate is tart and thin, something not quite right, disjointed, lots of new 'Hunter' rubber boots. But there is some resonance and reverberance there too. It hasn't moved a bit since I drank a bottle in 2007. Unimpressive. My #11 of 11: Group #11.
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1996 Louis Jadot Romanée St. Vivant 87 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Romanée St. Vivant Grand Cru
Pre-dinner blind tasting.....all wines had been decanted for several hours. Dusky but transparent ruby with no orange rim....probably a 1996. Nose is completely shut.....just the merest hints of strawberry perfumed water. Palate is initially tart but quickly rounds out, approachable and easy, good fruit. Resonant and reverberant but all a bit simple and not a ine to keep much longer..... I pinned it for a Chambolle Musigny. My #10 of 11; Group #1.
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1993 Louis Jadot Romanée St. Vivant 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Romanée St. Vivant Grand Cru
Pre-dinner blind tasting.....all wines had been decanted for several hours. Bright, transparent but almost Bordeaux in depth of colour. Nose is lovely and accessible...fruit driven and the only wine tonight to show some obvious oak. Palate is warming, rounded, welcoming, great agidic and tannic balance, open, heady but lacks a bit of complexity for me. My #5 of 11: Group #3.
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1996 Louis Jadot Richebourg 88 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Richebourg Grand Cru
Pre-dinner double-blind tasting in this instance.....all wines had been decanted for several hours. We knew this was a 'ringer' and auto-suggestion prompted me to think of best of non-Burgundy. Very different colour from the preceding 10 wines.....more bloody red and looks young. Nose is closed but with a bit of stink.....I like it. Palate is open, rounded, easy to like and with a very impressive acidic/tannic balance, but all slightly simple and lacking in resonance and any post-finale reverberance. My #8 of 11: Group #2.
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