Corton-Charlemagne Grand cru
2017
Founded in 1825, Domaine Faiveley is one of Burgundy's greatest domaines. Originally the company was a classic negotiant business, based in Nuits St. Georges and engaged in the buying and selling of wine but not the production of it. After seven generations of steadily acquiring properties throughout the Cotes de Nuits, the Cotes de Beaune, Cotes Chalonnaise and now Chablis, the Faiveley family have established themselves as the most important vineyard owners in Burgundy, with 125 hectares of...
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Often among the best examples of Corton-Charlemagne, Faiveley’s stylish white comes from a 0.87-hectare parcel that will soon have the addition of part of Clos des Cortons, replanted with white grapes. Fresh, waxy and restrained, with power in reserve, creamy lees and vanilla spice, this is a very stylish Grand Cru white. 2017-26
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A hard-to-beat Corton-Charlemagne in 2017, this comes from cool, east-facing vineyards that ripen very slowly, even in a warm year. Focussed, pithy and fizzing with energy, it's a rich, dense wine with 40% new oak, creamy lees and a tangy, mouthwatering finish.
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The Faiveley holdings add up to 0.87ha on variety of soil types and altitudes, but they are all comparatively cool. This was picked late as a result on September 4th and marries richness, weight and honeyed complexity with vibrant, mineral-edged acidity and scented oak. A textbook Corton-Charlemagne from a year that didn't lend itself to classic wines.
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Aromas of ripe pear and quince, with a strong mineral component. The buttery, pleasantly plump side comes out on the palate, but there is no heaviness and the wine stays silky and very fine. The grapes are gently pressed and fermented in cask (half new) with a large percentage of the lees. There is plenty of fruit to support this maturation, however.
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The four parcels that make up the Faiveleys’ 0.87 hectares of Corton-Charlemagne
encompass a variety of soil types and altitudes. This is a complex, waxy, pear and banana fruity white with creamy lees, bright acidity and considerable, restrained power.
Pale yellow. Alluring nose combines aromas of citrus fruits, peach, stone and lavender; comes across as riper and more sedate than the Faiveley cuvées from south of Beaune. Plush, sweet, pliant and rather full but not heavy; this has the silkiness and palate feel of a Pinot Noir and the cool density of the Ladoix-Serrigny side of the appellation. Citrus and soil flavors are nicely supported by a firm core of limestone minerality. This terrific expression of terroir finishes with a rising whiplash of flavor.
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Pale, bright yellow. Reticent nose hints at crushed stone, lemon and nutmeg. Piquant flavors of lemon zest and crushed stone convey an impression of electric energy. Dense and fine-grained but with a weightless quality owing to its powerful stony minerality. The wonderfully tactile, slowly mounting finish displays strong salty extract. Still a baby and almost painfully taut today, but its pungency and echoing length suggest that it will be long-lived.
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One-year old Francois Freres barrel. Taut with some meal and cedar and spice notes. Lemony, fine and nicely expressive with lovely citrus fruit core. Powerful but linear with lots of potential.
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Like the Bâtard, generous wood also fights somewhat with the cooler and airier aromas of green apple, pear and a variety of citrus and floral elements. The intense, sleeker and more mineral-inflected flavors don’t possess quite the same richness or power yet flash even better detail on the bone-dry, youthfully austere and clean finish that is shaped by lemon-tinged acidity on the impressively long, complex and compact finish where the wood telegraphed by the nose slowly reappears. Lovely.
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The 2021 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru was heavily affected by the frost resulting in just four barrels rather than the usual 16 or 17; their plot is located on the Ladoix side. At the moment there is quite a bit of reduction on the nose that occludes the terroir expression at the moment. The palate is taut and fresh, a judicious slice of bitter lemon lends tension that sutures with the apricot and lemongrass notes on the finish that has a little more persistence than the Bâtard-Montrachet. Promising despite everything.
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The 2021 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru was cropped at a mere 12 hectoliters per hectare, yet it remains quite classic in profile, exhibiting notes of lemon zest, pear, nutmeg and pastry cream, followed by a full-bodied, layered and concentrated palate with a satiny attack and a racy spine of acidity, concluding with a chalky finish.
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The 2020 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru has turned out especially well, opening in the glass with aromas of pear, peach, white flowers, freshly baked bread, nutmeg and hazelnuts. Full-bodied, layered and multidimensional, it's unusually textural and broad-shouldered for this Ladoix-derived cuvée, displaying bright acids and chalky structuring extract.
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The 2017 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru comes from a single parcel on the Ladoix side of the hill, the last parcel one faces toward the east. It has an attractive bouquet of lemon curd, yeast and orange peel that gains intensity with aeration. The palate is fresh on the entry, with touches of apricot and quince, a fine bead of acidity and good weight on the finish. This is a classy Corton-Charlemagne that should offer at least 12 to 15 years of drinking pleasure.
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A difficult nose is presently composed by notes of reduction, sulfur and soft wood. Rich, full-bodied and powerful flavors are also blessed with an impressive amount of dry extract that coats the palate on the expressly dry but not really austere finale. Like the BBM, this too needs to develop better overall depth but the underlying material does appear to be on hand for that to occur.
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