Has anyone tried the 2007 Faiveley lineup? I am primarily interested in:
Clos de Beze
Clos des Cortons
Chambolle Fuees
Chambolle Combe d’Orveaux
Gevrey Cazetiers
Gevrey Combe aux Moines
Nuits Les St Georges
I’ve tried to search for notes/comments and have generally come up short. FYI, I’ve read the Meadows and Tanzer notes.
All comments are appreciated.
Thanks.
Russell,
I’ve only had the latricieres (from magnum) back in June last year:
· 07 Latricieres: Purple colour. Massive nose of violets and a little menthol. Pure, ripe red/blue fruit. Very easy drinking – so sweet and no discernible tannins. Is this even the same grape let alone the same producer??!! No frame of reference whatsoever to judge what this will become.
I’ve seen very positive comments from others across the full faiveley range under the new style and in particular on the beze, echezeaux and cazetiers.
Dan
Many thanks, Dan.
Russell,
Just to be clear, my comments were in the context of a faiveley dinner with lots of wines back to 1988. The 07 was completely different to those “old school” faiveleys.
Dan
The Corton is one of if not the best 2007 red burgundy Ive tried. The other contender is Roumier Bonne Mares.
Dan - understood and thanks for the clarification. Do you feel that their ageability has been compromised at all due to the stylistic change?
Berry - thanks for the tip. Did you by chance try any of the others? I’ve really enjoyed the Roumier I’ve had thus far (Bourgogne, CM, Bussiere, Cras), but haven’t yet had the BM.
I tried the Beze which was also excellent but I liked the Corton better.
Regarding the stylistic change and agability I think you will different answer based on what one feels a wine needs to age. I personally think wines age on their acids (as opposed to their tannins) so I don’t see why the new style shouldnt develop complexity with age. Im sure others will strongly disagree with me.
Either way 2007 Red Burgundy is light on both the acid and tannin so these should be relatively early drinkers. Lots of people are not excited about 2007 but I find the wines fun and delightful. As someone who hasnt collected long, 2007 is the perfect vintage for me in that I can have wines to drink while other more structured vintages age. Plus its an “elegant” vintage with more floral than fruit aromatics and I love that. But it sounds like you have tried some of the vintage and your take could be very different.
Berry - I agree with your take on 2007. I purchased mixed cases of my favorite producers and intend to get through them while I wait on 05/06… and I’m looking forward to it!
I’ve had the 2007 Bourgogne Rouge, which came across in a straightforward style, well structured, precisely textured, dried red fruit and herbal/earthy nuances…typical of a red from broad-based fruit sources throughout Cdb and Cdn. (Disclaimer-I sell this wine).
Here are a few notes.
2007 Faiveley Beaune ‘Clos de L’Ecu’: When structure collides with plush fruits the result is Faiveley’s 07 ‘L’Ecu’. This is a wine that is immediately accessible with all its prune, sweet red fruits and gentle cedar tones titillating the senses. It is mid-weight but beautifully balanced with elements of fruit, earth, mineral and meat all in proportion. It finishes with good cut and whilst complex and balanced right now it should be a beauty given a few more years in the cellar.
2007 Faiveley Gevrey-Chambertin ‘Les Cazetiers’: Usually young Faiveley has a good dose of ‘f*** off and don’t come back for 10 years’ but this is somewhat different. It’s still masculine with plenty of meat, soot, iron and earth but there’s an extra degree of sweet ripe fruit (think blueberries and liqueur cherry) and the oak is just a little more rounded with some menthol notes and dare I say contributing more creaminess to the texture. You can drink this wine young but it may hurt you. Whilst there is a slight but noticeable change to the Faiveley style there’s still an ‘old school’ feel to the wine and I don’t doubt a wine that will be so much better with a couple of decades of cellaring.
2007 Faiveley Echezeaux shows a fair whack of cola to the aroma, quite a distinctive oak trait that I’m begging to think emanates from certain Francois Freres coopered barrels (anyone know who cooper’s Faiveley’s oak?). I seem to recall the 06 Beze had a similar cola trait so perhaps this is the identifier for new model Faiveley? Anyway, so all cola issues aside this is a ‘spankingly’ good Echezeaux. It’s crammed with ‘petite fruits rouge’ lightly dusted with some icing sugar. There’s plenty of Asian spice and an enticing thread of intoxicating florals. Beneath the façade of sexiness are a bed of geological matter and just the first signs of meat (c’mon out you typical Faiveley traits). It is impeccably balanced, very dense and just a super drink now and yet I’m quite sure it will age well over the long haul. As good as this is now I just feel a little sad in that I now know that the true Faiveley style of years gone by may never surface again.
Thanks Jeremy!
These are the only Faiveley 2007s I’ve tried so far but I was generally quite impressed. I think the change in direction is looking pretty positive for Faiveley. As mentioned 2007 is an earlier drinking vintage but a very pretty one that will bring a lot of pleasure.
Domaine Faiveley Bourgogne Blanc 2007
Saline lifted nose - this is mostly Macon fruit with a mix of new/old oak and stainless - good lift, lots of oyster shell and sea rock, nice reasonably thick dry texture with good extract and length. A pretty impressive Bourgogne.
Domaine Faiveley Mercurey 2007
Lovely floral nose, red fruits but with depth, good palate texture, nice balance of tannin/acid in this with very nice fruit though the finish pulls up too quickly. Still good value though.
Domaine Faiveley Clos des Myglands Monopole 1er Cru 2007
Much deeper nose with evident oak that might be too much for some. Similar in style to the village Mercurey but with a much better structure and complexity. Very expressive. I like this. Like Jeremy mentioned he found on the Echezeaux, this had that same particular ‘cola’ flavour that also reminded me of the 2006 Clos de Beze. I only found it on this one wine though… They also mentioned that they have completely dropped their old cooper (pre 2006) and are now using 5 different coopers.
Joseph Faiveley Gevrey Chambertin 2007
From 50% purchased fruit so this is labelled under the Joseph Faiveley label. 100% used barrels. Much more in the dark berry spectrum with a little dried meat, nice structure, good complexity, I like the freshness and acidity in this, a lot of tannin in there but well integrated.
Domaine Faiveley Gevrey Chambertin ‘Les Cazetieres’ 1er Cru 2007
2/3 new Oak, the rest one year old barrels. Noticeable darker in colour, the nose on this already is deep, masculine complex but not overly closed. This has great fruit and a fair whack of oak but the integration is so well balanced, a strong tannin structure but very silky. This has a lot more finesse than in years past. My favourite of the lineup.
Exactly.