Last Saturday I attended a vertical tasting organized by Bob Conrad and Michael Bowden. The wines were Clos des Cortons Faiveley 1926 through 2016. Not all years were tasted. We did taste 48 vintages. Allen Meadows was present as well as the extremely congenial Erwan Faiveley. We started with a little history of the vineyard from the perspective of the Domaine.
The Clos des Cortons is a very old plot of land in the Rognet area of Ladoix-Serrigny. It belonged originally to Charlemagne himself but was subsequently given to the last Duke of Burgundy who left it in the hands of Marie Bourgogne. In 1874, the property was owned by a negociant in Nuits-Saint-Georges and was purchased by the Faiveley family in its entirety.
The Clos was 3.01 hectares in size when purchased in 1874 as Clos des Corton. The wine is now known as Clos des Corton Faiveley due to some litigation with the syndicate of Corton. Several rounds of litigation to get Faiveley to quit using the name Clos des Corton have failed ending in a judge requiring Faiveley to put their name after Clos des Corton making a new AOC.
Present day the Clos des Corton Faiveley is primarily planted in pinot noir. It is still 3.01 hectares but only 2 hectares 76 ares 52 centaires are planted in pinot noir. The rest is planted in chardonnay and since the chardonnay is at the very top of the hill it is allowed to be marketed as Corton-Charlemagne instead of Clos des Corton blanc.
The exposure is easterly and the soil is white marl with ferruginous oolites. The years the vineyard was planted are 1936, 1956, 1965, 1971, 1976, 1977, 1987 and 2002.
Annual production is 15,000 bottles.
The groupings were organized by Doug Barzelay. They were organized by era.
Our first flight featured wines made by Erwan with assistance from Bernard Hervet up until 2007. Erwan feels 2012 was his breakthrough year. All of the vineyard changes and winemaking changes finally came together.
Flight One-
2006 - Dark cherry nose. Fabulous aromas of dark cherry fruit and early notes. There are some signs of aging around the rim. Very strong tannic finish. Very nice.
2007- Very pretty cherry nose with a few earthy secondary notes. More feminine here. This wine is delicious. The structure is resolved. Delicious!
2008- Very bright cherry nose. High tone. Very floral. The palate is a little thinner. The fruit is a little overwhelmed by acidity. Linear. Tannic finish.
2011- Gorgeous red cherry nose. Pure. No green! Cherry red fruit that is energetic and lively. Just missing some complexity to be the next level. Excellent for the vintage.
2013- Very slight pyrazine note. Here the fruit is brighter red cherry. Firm wine which showed somewhat closed on the palate. Reserved.
2014- A gorgeous bright cherry nose. Beautifully presented. Very young. The palate is delicious with well-tamed tannins and a really full mid palate. Excellent!
Flight Two-
2005 – corked.
2009- Denser and more powerful wine. Primary with vibrant cherry on the nose and palate. Very long in the mouth. Young and special.
2010- Fantastic nose. Perfectly ripe fruit. A balance that is very special. Primary right now but this one will be extraordinary with time. Fabulous.
2012 – Very dense ripe fruit on the nose. Some bitterness with the cherry fruit. Tannic. The wine seems very closed.
2015 - The nose of a barrel sample. Bright fruit. Not a lot of complexity but perfectly ripe and seductive. The mouth feel and midpalate now are incredible. Vibrant cherry fruit and dances. Very long. Incredible future here.
2016- This one is closer to a barrel sample but the nose is tamed now. Focused cherry fruit. Less density. The mid palate is excellent but lacks the volume and intensity of the 2015. The structure is what some would call classic. Excellent!
Flight Three-
1983 - Corked
1994 en magnum. Tastevinage label. 1997 bottling- Some darker brown sugar notes on the nose. A core of cherry fruit. The texture is very nice. Resolved tannin. Delicious.
1998 - Cherry core. Nice nose. Very tannic finish.
2000- Lighter cherry fruit. A nice generous nose and palate. Not as intense as the best wines. Some tannin on the finish.
2004- Afflicted by the 2004 pyrazine disease. Cherry fruit but very herbal.
Flight Four
1976- Gorgeous. Classic structure. Vibrant red fruit with some element of truffle and brown sugar. The fruit is a little drying and the acid is a little out front but this is quite tasty. Resolved structure.
1989- Very dark fruit on the nose. Not a lot of complexity. Good intensity but falls a little on the finish.
1990- Darker fruit. Truffle. Here there is power. Very long. Still structured.
1997- Beautiful nose with softer tannin here. Cherry fruit. Only on the finish is there firmness.
2003 - Very dark. Cherry compote. The mid palate is a little hollowed out. Very tannic!
Flight Five
1972- Delicious. Darker fruit with truffle and notes of brown sugar. Very long and sensual at this point Resolved.
1979 - Old gorgeous red burgundy. Complex. Ripe fruit. Persistent. Fabulous!
1982 - Tastevinage bottled in 1985 - Dense fruit. Cherry. The mid palate is good here. Resolved. Not incredibly complex but this is tasty.
1986- Bizarre nose. Burnt cotton candy. Chaptalized? Burnt sugar. This bottle might not be representative.
1987 - corked
1992 Tastevinage bottled in 1999 - A delicious friendly wine. Cherry fruit. Resolved structure. Just lacking that extra gear and complexity to make it special.
Flight Six
1985- Wonderful effusive cherry nose. Dense perfectly ripe cherry fruit with great balance and length. Fabulous. Special.
1999- corked
2002 - Darker ripe fruit. Cherry. Structured and closed today.
Flight Seven
1988- Dense reticent nose that finally opened into a very nice red fruited beauty. This is a very nice wine that still shows the firmness of the year. Some higher acid and tannin persist. Very long. I liked this.
1991- Lighter color. Beautiful balance. This one finishes with a rush of tannin that clips the finish.
1993- This is rocking. Cherry core. Starting to shed tannin. Penetrating and pure. Very long and tremendous mouth feel. Wonderful!
1995- Like the 1993, this showed a vibrant cherry fruit. Effusive nose. Great length. Nice mid palate. This I shows a very slight drying of fruit on the finish but is one of my favorites of this flight.
1996- Reticent nose. Very similar to the 1993/1995. Full mid palate. Cherry core. Higher acid. Well buffered by fruit.
2001- Very young and very closed. Pure. Hard to analyze at this point.
Flight 8
1955- Delicate and complex. Red fruit. Spicy. Slightly sweet. The finish is excellent! Wonderful old Faiveley wine. Special.
1961 - Denser here. Red fruit. Very full mid palate. Intense and complex. Loved this. Again this is special.
1964 en magnum- Incredible nose. Floral. Red fruited. Intense palate. Not quite the midpalate density of the 1961 but this is incredible. Also special.
1969- Gorgeous complex cherry nose. Intense palate with beautiful balance. Involving. A+. Special.
1971 - Cherry fruit nose. Effusive. Gorgeous sweet palate that is perfectly balanced and proportioned. Incredible complex finish. Profound wine to me. Wow!
1978- At the tasting, the wine was old and destroyed by VA. At the dinner later in the evening, this wine sung. Intense cherry. Complex. Huge mid palate. Very nice. Maybe not the intensity of the 1971 but this is great.
Flight 9
1926- Musty and dirty. I think this was a bad bottle.
1929- Pristine. Domaine sourced. Gorgeous resolved nose. Cherry fruit and earthy notes. Fabulous mid palate that sings with complexity. Extraordinarily long. Profound. Thanks Erwan
1947 en magnum Dense and dark. Some VA. Very ripe. Monolithic in many ways. Tried over several hours. This one didn’t move.
1949- Bad bottle. This tasted old and musty. No fruit. Bummer.
1959 (Domaine Sourced) Immortal nose. Absolutely pristine cherry fruit. Totally integrated with some earth on the nose. Vibrant. Penetrating. The palate is incredible. It goes on forever. Profound wine and the best wine of the tasting to me. Bravo!
1959 (Swiss Sourced) Beautiful integrated nose. Cherry fruit. Complex. Wonderful but it lacks the emotional fire of the domaine-sourced bottle.
I appreciated being asked to join in the tasting. Michael and Bob did an incredible job of setting it up. Doug Barzelay did a fabulous job of flighting the wines based on era of the winemaker.
A fascinating day!
santé
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