Wine Advisor
Domaine Faiveley, Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru 2017
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: William Kelley
Two out of the fifteen barrels of the 2017 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru derive, for the first time, from white vines planted at the top of Faiveley's famous Clos des Cortons, and the ensuing wine is certainly superb, offering up notes of citrus zest, white flowers and crushed chalk. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, taut and strikingly incisive, with a deep core and a long, searingly mineral finish. This will be well worth seeking out.
Reviewed by: William Kelley
Faiveley's 2017 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru has realized all the potential it showed from barrel last year, wafting from the glass with aromas of Meyer lemon, mandarin oil, green apple, white flowers and pear that are framed by a discrete application of classy new oak. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, racy and beautifully balanced, with a deep and concentrated core, mouthwatering acids and a long, penetrating finish. This is a supremely elegant rendition of the appellation, and it's well worth seeking out. As I recounted last year, two out of the fifteen barrels of wine that were produced derive, for the first time, from white vines planted at the top of Faiveley's famous Clos des Cortons.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
(I tasted this wine from a new barrel following the recent end of the malolactic fermentation; this wine, made from fruit picked at the end of the harvest, is also likely to be bottled last): Aromas of ripe peach, lemon-lime, menthol and spicy oak. Penetrating, dense and saline, offering concentrated spice and crushed stone notes as well as a trace of malic acidity. In spite of its thickness of texture, this dusty, classically dry wine is like chewing on a rock today. Finishes stony, virile and very long, with a powerful impression of extract and unflagging solidity.
About the Producer
Domaine Faiveley has a reputation in Burgundy that is as famous as it is. This is because it has more than 130 hectares of vineyards on a very small piece of land, almost all of them in the famous Cote d'Or and Cote Chalonnaise. Three quarters of the 50 hectares of the Côte d'Or vineyards are classified as Grand Cru or Premier Cru. More than 85% of the wines produced by Château Favillet come from its own vineyards. This strength is the result of six generations of tireless work by the Favillet family. Founded in 1852 by the Faiveley family, Château Faiveley is now run by Francois Faiveley. François invested heavily in hiring experts to analyse the soil quality of the vineyards and then apply relevant organic fertilisers to adjust the soil composition. He uses a number of methods to control yields, such as removing excess buds and retaining older vines. When it comes to harvesting the grapes, the traditional hand-picking method is used. This method is quite time consuming, but it is the only way to ensure the quality of the grapes. In Burgundy, it takes the average winemaker around a week to complete the harvesting process. Only an extravagant winemaker such as Favelle would go to the trouble of employing a team of 400 pickers to complete the harvest in a day or two. At the winery, the grapes are then carefully hand-selected before they can go through the fermentation process on the skins. After pressing, all the Favelle wines from the Grand Cru or Grand Cru vineyards are aged in new oak barrels and bottled unfiltered, in their original state, to reveal the complexity of the wine's personality. In addition to the strict control of the winemaking process, the Favelle range is constantly seeking to diversify its product range. Having acquired a large number of Nuits-St-Georges Grand Cru wines, François relied on his contacts to exchange vineyards with friends in order to diversify the range. He swapped red wines from the Beaune appellation and white wines from Aligote in the Cote Chalonnaise appellation, thus enriching the range of appellations and products he owned. Robert Parker once said of Château Favillé: "The only Burgundian winemakers today who can surpass Favillé in quality are probably Château Romanée-Conti (DRC) and Domaine Leroy! "
