Winemaker Notes
Domaine Faiveley owns a single 5.06 acre parcel of the total 25 acre Les Cazatiers vineyard. The vineyard is located high on the hillside in the northern part of the appellation bordering the equally famous 1er Cru of Clos St-Jacques. Exposure is due east with soils made up primarily of white marl (clay) and limestone gravel.
Grapes are hand harvested and sorted upon arrival at the domaine. Following a short maceration the must undergoes primary fermentation in a combination of stainless steel and wooden vats. The young wines are aged in 70% lightly toasted new oak barrels for 16 to 18 months.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This wine is already well balanced. Ripe strawberries and red cherries are shot through with the acidity of the vintage. The tannins are present, complementing the already attractive fruits. The aftertaste shows the considerable potential with its tannins. Drink from 2020.
Cellar Selection -
Wine Spectator
There's plenty of fruit here, along with a dense and tight structure. Sour cherry, currant, spice and earthy, leafy elements play out on the long, grippy finish. Best from 2020 through 2033.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2014 tasting, Faiveley's 2014 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers felt a little diffuse on the nose compared to its peers. But it melds together with aeration, offering pretty dark plum and raspberry scents, later pressed flowers. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grip and structure, a little rough round the edges but well balanced, although the finish just needs more flesh and body since it seems to attenuate, ossify a little, and it leaves you wanting more.
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.”
This small village is home to the Grands Crus in the farthest northerly stretches of Côte de Nuits and is famous for some of the deepest and firmest Burgundian Pinot Noir.
Gevrey boasts nine Grands Crus, the best of which are arguably Le Chambertin and Chambertin-Clos de Bèze. As with all of the fragmented vineyards of Burgundy, it isn’t easy to differentiate between the two, which are situated adjacent with Clos de Bèze slightly further up the hill than Le Chambertin. Clos de Bèze has a shallower soil and if you’re really counting, may produce wines less intense but more likely to charm. Some compare Le Chambertin in both power and plentitude only to the prized Romanée-Conti Grand Cru farther south in Vosne-Romanée.
Two other Grands Crus vineyards, Mazis-Chambertin (also written Mazy-) and Latricières-Chambertin command almost as much regard as Le Chambertin and Chambertin-Clos de Bèze. The upper part of Mazy, called Les Mazis Haut is the best and Latricières-Chambertin offers an abundance of juicy fruit and a silky texture in the warmer vintages.
Other Grands Crus are Ruchottes-Chambertin, Charmes-Chambertin, Mazoyères-Chambertin, Griotte-Chambertin and Chapelle-Chambertin.
The most respected Pinot Noir wines from Gevrey-Chambertin are robust and powerful but at the same time, velvety and expressive: black fruit, black liquorice and chocolate come into play. After some time in the bottle, the wines are harmonious with bright and sometimes candied fruit, and aromas of musk, truffle and forest floor. These have staying power.