Winemaker Notes
Serve with Seared foie gras with armagnac, game, quail, full-flavored cheeses such as Cîteaux or Reblochon.
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
2008 Corton Grand Cru Clos des Cortons Faiveley Faiveley's grand cru monopole is close to 7.5 acres of pinot noir, with some of the vines dating back to 1936. The beauty of the wine is immediately there-in the aroma, in the surety and purity of the fragrance, the taste of fresh cherries, the scent of a floral border in spring. It's spicy, bold, firmly structured, intellectually pleasing in the intricacies of its structure, seductively supple even now. There's incipient flavor perceptible in the tannin, suggesting this needs a decade or more to fully evolve.
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Wine Spectator
Very focused and juicy, with pretty raspberry, currant, violet and stone aromas and flavors that meld nicely with the firm structure and sleek profile. Elegant overall, with beautifully defined fruit and nice length. Best from 2013 through 2028.
Founded in 1825, Bourgognes Faiveley has been handed down from father to son for over 175 years. As the sixth generation to take the reins, François Faiveley manages, with equal amounts passion and competence, the largest family domaine in Burgundy. Methodically reconstructing vineyards fractured by French inheritance laws, Bourgognes Faiveley today owns more appellations in their entirety (monopoles) than any other domaine in Burgundy.
"Faiveley’s wines are... supremely clean and elegant: definitive examples of Pinot Noir... above all they have richness and breed, the thumbprint of a master winemaker."
-Clive Coates M.W.
Côte d’Or, A Celebration of the Great Wines of Burgundy
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
A classic source of exceptional Chardonnay as well as Pinot Noir, the Côte de Beaune makes up the southern half of the Côte d’Or. Its principal wine-producing villages are Pernand-Vergelesses, Aloxe-Corton, Beaune, Pommard, Volnay, Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet.
The area is named for its own important town of Beaune, which is essentially the center of the Burgundy wine business and where many negociants center their work. Hospices de Beaune, the annual wine auction, is based here as well.