An afternoon with the wines of Faiveley

Alex and I pulled this lunch together, and it stretched on to an impromptu part II at Denise Wines at Vivocity after. Pinots were all served blind. Elsa, Joyce, Sasi, Lawrence, Nancy, Yew Meng, John and Elaine and Paul from Thailand made up the table.

Popped this to start and to pair with the first course of smoked salmon salad

• NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Rosé 93 Points

  France, Champagne

  This was showing absolutely beautifully on the day - great way to start the lunch. Orange gold pink - almost salmon coloured, with a super fine bead. The nose showed toasted bread, some mushroom and flowers along with a little minerally strain. Really friendly and inviting, with lots of freshness. This told on the palate as well, which was nicely fresh with lots of round, sparkly acidity, all beautifully balanced with cherry and berry flavours along with a hint of flowers and a long, minerally finish with a really nice sense of structure. Yummy.

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• 2004 Faiveley Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Fuées 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru

  Really lightly coloured for a 2004, the rim was almost going garnet on this wine. Clearly young on the nose and palate though. Very Chambolle bouquet, with a light layering of earth and mushroom along with fresh cut flowers - very elegant and perfumed. The palate was clean and minerally, with cherries along with a sprinkling of flowers and sandlewood and cloves and a little savoury touch supported by fresh acidity and firmish tannins. Not the heavily textured wine, this had a light touch but showed good complexity and beautiful balance.

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• 2004 Faiveley Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru

  My favourite wine of the day. I thought this was excellent for 2004 and everything that a Suchots should be. Darker coloured than the other Faiveleys, the wine had a beautiful nose with sweet dark berries tucked away in a layer of loamy earth, undergrowth and fragrant mushrooms with some raw wood and spice. Wonderful clean and elegant on the palate, yet with good weight and power in its dark, dark cherry and berry fruits. A little ferrous mineral, wood spice and pepper at the finish spoke eloquently of Vosne Romanee. It was lip-smackingly fresh throughout.

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• 2000 Wieninger Pinot Noir Grand Select 93 Points

  Austria, Wien

  This was served as a surprise from Alex, and what a surprise too. We all confidently called it a cote de nuits - 1er Cru from a good maker at that. Reddish core with a garnet rim. Really nice nose - sweet berries and strawberry preserve along with mushrooms, funky forest floor and a hint of sandlewood - round, luscious and beguiling. A really sex bomb of a nose. The palate carried on where the nose left off, with lots of sappy weight expressed in ripe cherries, plums, earthy mushrooms and a sprinkle of peppery spice, all harmoniously bound together in a well-balanced package all the way into a very decent finish which showed a hint of tannins. Deadringer for a Burg and entirely excellent, this sensual, forward wine gave a really good and more serious, restrained Faiveley Suchots 2004 a real close fight for wine of the afternoon.

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Lovely duck confit, beautiful pairing

• 2002 Faiveley Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos des Issarts 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru

  Pretty good wine, but nothing special, especially for a 2002 Burg from Faiveley. Good typicity, as would be expected - everyone spotted this as the Gevrey. Its layered nose showed mushroom, loamy earth and sous bois along with rather buried cherry. Rather lovely actually. The palate was classy, clean and elegant, but rather lean, with pure but rather subdued cherry fruit and dried mushrooms. Long, lingering finish that showed a hint of wood and a sappy fruitiness. This wine needs quite a bit of time yet.

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• 2002 Faiveley Corton-Clos des Cortons Faiveley 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru

  This is super young and very tight - quite a bit more so than the 2001 375ml that I had a couple of weeks back. Nice enough nose, sweet sappy fruit, almost honeydew like strangely, perfumy flowers, ferrous mineral and a hint of pepper. However, even after a long decant, the palate was really tightly wound. More ferrous than anything else, it only came around towards the end of the lunch to show sappy cherries and a touch of savoury soupiness towards its long, minerally finish. There is good weight here, and more density than the other Faiveleys. It will take time, but this is very clearer a wine of some breeding.

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Creme Brulee

• 1999 Château de Fesles Bonnezeaux F de Fesles 88 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Bonnezeaux

  Not bad, but rather ho-hum. Nose had a little plastic and egg custard along with a touch of baking powder and butter and lashings of honey and mango tones. Mush the same on the palate, which showed an additional layer of mineral and dried apricots.

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Elsa and I went down to Vivocity for a part II with wines from Sasi's stash - this was shared with Sasi, Alex, Fiona, Lawrence and Paul from Thailand

• 1996 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Cuvée Nicolas François Billecart 93 Points

  France, Champagne

  Really fine, but oh so young, even given that we drank it from a 375ml. Yellow gold in colour. Super fine, super persistent and really dense bead promisd quality, and the wine delivered. Really yeasty, chardonnay nose, with some soy, bread and honey along with a fragrant seam of sweet red apple running through the nose through onto the palate which was creamily textured with great weight and delineation. It was all acid at first, but really blossomed with time to show honey, white fruit and that red apple flavour along with a savoury bready undertone. Long, balanced finish. Beautiful, but needs time to integrate.

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• 1999 Faiveley Latricières-Chambertin 92 Points

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

  Clearly a good wine, but clearly still in deep sleep. My score here reflects the wine's potential as much as anything else. Really darkly coloured with a youthful pink rim, very 1999. Nose was really, really nice - flowers, bread and dust at first, with a fine seam of cherries and pain grille. In time, more clearly Gevrey tones of earth and shitake mushroom came to the fore. The palate attack really nicely, with clean acid and bright cherry flavours and good weight, but this completely shut down on the mid-palate before entering into a fresh finish that had a swirl of acid and super-fine, powdery tannins. The tannins were grippy in fact and rather mouth-coating. With time and lots of splashing in the decanter, the hole in the mid-palate began to fill up slightly, with some sappy fruit and a slightly herbal overtone. A little thin and disparate at the moment, but the material is there - this needs patience.

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