First one of these I've tried for several years as the previous ones were very tight and austere. Much blacker fruit profile than anything served so far this evening. Still slightly dry on the finish initially although this softened with some air. A slightly odd cigarette ash nose developed with time but the palate was lovely and persistent. Definitely offers hope for my remaining bottles.
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Mature Burgundy Offline (Medlar, Chelsea): Nose reticent at first, slowly opening to reveal pure, still quite youthful dark cherry fruit, with notes of herbs and soil. Relatively soft on the palate, but linear, pure, youthful black fruit, slight herbal note again, long cool fruited finish. Excellent but leaves the distinct impression it will open further and be even better in 10 years time. ****1/2.
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Bottle and fill excellent, cork broke apart with removal. This bottle was advanced, even delicate and not as tannic as I would have expected for a 1988 Faiveley. Dull colored and a little geriatric at first without any punch, this then improved considerably with air becoming an elegant and refined burg with proper weight. It really benefited from the big Riedel burg glass which showed its subtle and complex nose to good effect. If this bottle is typical, then drink soon. This would get lost in a line-up and needs appropriate food to shine.
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Domaine Faiveley Dinner (The Square, London): light bricking of the wine. a bit horsey on the nose, with some dark fruits. in the mouth this had some sweet red fruits and minerals. medium long, softer than i thought for an 88. not quite as good as the bottle i had 2 months ago
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Drunk at the Faiveley dinner at the Square. A little underpowered at first. Really opened with air. Very intense, sweet fruit with great length. Slightly herbal, menthol nose. Kept getting better with air.
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Dinner @ The Ledbury (The Ledbury, London): Dinner @ The Ledbury - put this one out there with a bit of trepidation as so many notes have said this needs more time. decanted 4 hours before dinner. crimson color, sweet spice and dark fruits on the nose. very clean. in the mouth it was quite lively, big and bold but not overbearing, still showing dark fruits and a touch of sweetness. the tannins were very silky. i can see this bottle being better 5+ years from now but i think with enough time in the decanter it can give pleasure
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Drunk at the Charles Morgan burgundy OL - I approached the 88 beze with some trepidation as all previous bottles have been completely shut down. This wine will clearly improve from here for decades. It is an immutable object! After a while in the glass it began to hit a note with such purity, distinction and persistence that it was like a tuning fork ringing the perfect note for hours.
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Double decanted about 2 hours before drinking. At first, quite mute on the nose (just a little brett) and in the mouth. Over time opened up and grew in power to reveal some lovely sweet, classic pinot fruit. Clearly, at its peak and needs drinking but provides very pleasant experience at the moment.
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The real Jeff Erhardt / Mahaffy offline (Rôtisserie Jules, London): Double-decanted before the offline, this was initially reticent and took 20 minutes or so to start showing its true colours. Strawberry red, with very slight signs of bricking. Notes of sous-bois, dired herbs and red fruit on the nose. Nice fruit on the attack, high-toned palate with round tannins, silky texture and very elegant balance. Drinking beautifully now.
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Showing age, paleish. a little dull, bricking. Double decanted an hour before. Great mature pinot nose, the faintest whiff of Brett behind. Disapoints on the nice, not much substance, some faint raspberry fruit. Opened out after some time, but mine was all gone by then :(
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Recently acquired this at auction for a song. Good levels generally but this one had a very torn label so I took the opportunity to try it out (any excuse will do!). Never decanted red burgundy before but tried it out this time based on other BB members' recommendations. Wine was a good crimson colour with some hints of browning in there as well but not sufficient to worry me. Nose was very muted as was palate at first. Very elegant, well balanced, medium bodied wine which developed significantly as it sat in the decanter over the evening. Nothing really to draw you to it over the first few hours and a bit of tight acidity on the finish was a slight downer. Indeed, I lost interest in the wine until I was just about to go to bed and took another sip. Big mistake - the wine had really started to open up. The slightly tight acidity/tannin in the finish had gone and what was left was a lovely, perfectly balanced, elegant/classic burgundy. Left the remainder for the next day. Went back to it 24 hours after opening and being decanted for a the final glass. First sip showed once again the slightly tight tannin on the finish but leaving for a few minutes in the glass this tightness faded away again to leave just a lovely, soft, elegant burgundy. By no means a powerhouse of overripe fruit (!) but also by no means dead/disappointing in the way others have experienced. Very much looking forward to opening the rest of this and there was clear upside to the score. Certainly based on this bottle the wine will not get much better with further ageing but not past it yet either.
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10/10/2013 - DAN BAILEY wrote:
First one of these I've tried for several years as the previous ones were very tight and austere. Much blacker fruit profile than anything served so far this evening. Still slightly dry on the finish initially although this softened with some air. A slightly odd cigarette ash nose developed with time but the palate was lovely and persistent. Definitely offers hope for my remaining bottles.
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10/10/2013 - Paul D wrote:
Mature Burgundy Offline (Medlar, Chelsea): Nose reticent at first, slowly opening to reveal pure, still quite youthful dark cherry fruit, with notes of herbs and soil. Relatively soft on the palate, but linear, pure, youthful black fruit, slight herbal note again, long cool fruited finish. Excellent but leaves the distinct impression it will open further and be even better in 10 years time. ****1/2.
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1/17/2013 - Lord Rayas wrote: 90 Points
tightly wound to start, nothing showing until after a hour or so. needs more time.
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9/27/2011 - vindictive wrote:
Bottle and fill excellent, cork broke apart with removal. This bottle was advanced, even delicate and not as tannic as I would have expected for a 1988 Faiveley. Dull colored and a little geriatric at first without any punch, this then improved considerably with air becoming an elegant and refined burg with proper weight. It really benefited from the big Riedel burg glass which showed its subtle and complex nose to good effect. If this bottle is typical, then drink soon. This would get lost in a line-up and needs appropriate food to shine.
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6/18/2009 - reichken wrote: 90 Points
Domaine Faiveley Dinner (The Square, London): light bricking of the wine. a bit horsey on the nose, with some dark fruits. in the mouth this had some sweet red fruits and minerals. medium long, softer than i thought for an 88. not quite as good as the bottle i had 2 months ago
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6/18/2009 - DAN BAILEY wrote:
Drunk at the Faiveley dinner at the Square. A little underpowered at first. Really opened with air. Very intense, sweet fruit with great length. Slightly herbal, menthol nose. Kept getting better with air.
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6/18/2009 - SimonG wrote:
Wine-Pages Faiveley Offline (The Square, London): More garnet in colour. Nose slightly meatier. Quite light on the attack, a touch of caramel. Moderate length. Smooth. This is decent. ****
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5/7/2009 - reichken wrote: 91 Points
Dinner @ The Ledbury (The Ledbury, London): Dinner @ The Ledbury - put this one out there with a bit of trepidation as so many notes have said this needs more time. decanted 4 hours before dinner. crimson color, sweet spice and dark fruits on the nose. very clean. in the mouth it was quite lively, big and bold but not overbearing, still showing dark fruits and a touch of sweetness. the tannins were very silky. i can see this bottle being better 5+ years from now but i think with enough time in the decanter it can give pleasure
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12/27/2008 - MauriceE wrote: 95 Points
Very good wine, don't decant, it's completely ready. Fruity nose, interesting. Lovely.
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5/14/2008 - DAN BAILEY wrote:
Drunk at the Charles Morgan burgundy OL - I approached the 88 beze with some trepidation as all previous bottles have been completely shut down. This wine will clearly improve from here for decades. It is an immutable object! After a while in the glass it began to hit a note with such purity, distinction and persistence that it was like a tuning fork ringing the perfect note for hours.
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9/21/2005 - DAN BAILEY wrote: 90 Points
Double decanted about 2 hours before drinking. At first, quite mute on the nose (just a little brett) and in the mouth. Over time opened up and grew in power to reveal some lovely sweet, classic pinot fruit. Clearly, at its peak and needs drinking but provides very pleasant experience at the moment.
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9/20/2005 - Rani wrote: 91 Points
The real Jeff Erhardt / Mahaffy offline (Rôtisserie Jules, London): Double-decanted before the offline, this was initially reticent and took 20 minutes or so to start showing its true colours. Strawberry red, with very slight signs of bricking. Notes of sous-bois, dired herbs and red fruit on the nose. Nice fruit on the attack, high-toned palate with round tannins, silky texture and very elegant balance. Drinking beautifully now.
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9/20/2005 - Russell Faulkner wrote:
Showing age, paleish. a little dull, bricking.
Double decanted an hour before.
Great mature pinot nose, the faintest whiff of Brett behind. Disapoints on the nice, not much substance, some faint raspberry fruit. Opened out after some time, but mine was all gone by then :(
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5/24/2005 - DAN BAILEY wrote: 90 Points
Recently acquired this at auction for a song. Good levels generally but this one had a very torn label so I took the opportunity to try it out (any excuse will do!). Never decanted red burgundy before but tried it out this time based on other BB members' recommendations. Wine was a good crimson colour with some hints of browning in there as well but not sufficient to worry me. Nose was very muted as was palate at first. Very elegant, well balanced, medium bodied wine which developed significantly as it sat in the decanter over the evening. Nothing really to draw you to it over the first few hours and a bit of tight acidity on the finish was a slight downer. Indeed, I lost interest in the wine until I was just about to go to bed and took another sip. Big mistake - the wine had really started to open up. The slightly tight acidity/tannin in the finish had gone and what was left was a lovely, perfectly balanced, elegant/classic burgundy. Left the remainder for the next day. Went back to it 24 hours after opening and being decanted for a the final glass. First sip showed once again the slightly tight tannin on the finish but leaving for a few minutes in the glass this tightness faded away again to leave just a lovely, soft, elegant burgundy. By no means a powerhouse of overripe fruit (!) but also by no means dead/disappointing in the way others have experienced. Very much looking forward to opening the rest of this and there was clear upside to the score. Certainly based on this bottle the wine will not get much better with further ageing but not past it yet either.
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3/14/2005 - DChan wrote:
This bottle (mine, sadly) of Faiveley was clearly off. A bit of fragrant earth stink on the nose, but absolutely zero on the palate. Zilch. Dead.
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