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1986 Faiveley Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Clos de la Maréchale - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru (12/30/2019)
I am a pretty big fan of this vineyard. One of my great pleasures of collecting wine is running across old vintages from this monopole. 1986 was one of the lesser vintages of the 80s. The growing season was plagued with hail, rot, and flooding. In general, the resulting wines were dilute and uneven. Before Erwan Faiveley took over the Domaine in ’04, the wines were generally big and tannic. Always rustic in style, they usually took forever to mature.
So this bottle is interesting for a couple of reasons. One, it is a from a monopole that Faiveley no longer produces wine from (Mugnier took over in ’04). Also of interest, Faiveley’s concentrated winemaking style of that period contending with a dilute vintage.
Good producers transcend bad vintages. Although I think this was never a great wine, this was an interesting bottle. Cork was quite pristine relative for a 30-year-old wine. Color was great with bricking. Mature with an unexpected degree of freshness for the vintage. Faint red fruit on the nose. Prominent tertiary notes of earth, umami flavors on the palate, and nuanced red fruit. With air, it initially became more integrated before the remaining soft tannins took over. Another vintage to add to the bottles have had from this storied vineyard. Although this was never destined to be great, this was a definite treat.
Posted from CellarTracker