Winemaker Notes
Corton Clos des Cortons Faiveley is the only Grand Cru in Burgundy alongside Romanée-Conti to bear the name of its proprietor. The name was confirmed in court in 1937. This unique 7-acre parcel sits on the northern extremity of the hill of Corton fairly high up the slope surrounded by the famous “Le Corton” parcel. Soils are poor and well-drained, made up primarily of iron-based stones and clay. The majority of the vineyard was planted between 1936 and 1967 with younger plantings up to 2002.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
I'm amazed! This is extremely fresh with orange zest and smoky notes, as well as intense cherry aromas. With its stunning concentration and vitality, this could wake the dead! A great and dynamic expression of this unique terroir that could be drunk now, but it also has a huge future ahead of it.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Corton Grand Cru Clos des Cortons Faiveley is going from strength to strength, unfurling in the glass with a lavish bouquet of sweet red berries, cherries, licorice, spices, candied peel, raw cocoa and grilled game bird. On the palate, it's full-bodied, satiny and succulent, with a deep and concentrated core, ripe but abundant tannins and juicy acids, concluding with a pure, elegantly chalky finish. While it will only improve with bottle age, it's showing more of its cards than it did a year ago.
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.