Gevrey-Chambertin 1er cru La Combe aux Moines
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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2017 is an early vintage. Harvests started on August 29th, the grape clusters were dense and compact thanks to excellent flowering in late May. Favourable climate conditions gave charm and generosity to the wines. 2017 is a classic style of vintage that can also be enjoyed in its youth.
The grapes were harvested and sorted by hand and were punched down daily in order to extract colour, tannins and aromas from the skin of the grapes. After a 19 day vatting period, the alcoholic fermentation was completed. The free-run wine was run off using a gravity system while the marc was pressed slowly and gently in order to extract an exceptionally pure press wine. The wines were aged for 16 months in French oak barrels (40-50% new oak and 50-60% one-wine barrels) which were selected for their fine grain and moderate toast. The finished wine was left to age in the cellars at consistent, natural hygrometry and temperature.
Intense ruby red colour and an attractive nose offering fresh red fruits, sweet spice, oaky notes and a touch of smoke. The palate is smooth and persistent with fruity, oaky notes that linger on the finish. A remarkably elegant wine with silky smooth tannins and a very distinctive finish.
This is one of the cooler Premiers Crus in Gevrey, situated close to the northern end of the village. It’s generally among the last vineyards to be picked, because every moment counts here. The oak is quite prominent, adding a touch of sweet coconut, but there’s a sappy freshness at the core and plenty of crunchy red fruits.
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A north-east facing site that’s one of the cooler spots in Gevrey, La Combe aux Moines often makes very fine, subtle wines. This is a case in point: pepper spice, sappy tannins, lots of red berry perfume and crunchy, minerally freshness.
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Colder than Les Cazetiers, which is not the warmest site in Gevrey itself, this is one of the last vineyards to be picked by the Faiveley team. It’s fresh and even slightly reticent, with some notes of tangerine, red fruits and cool, pomegranate-like acidity. Gevrey in its most elegant form.
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This is tightly wound, dense and chunky, with black cherry, black currant, spice and tobacco flavors, supported by gum-coating tannins. The finish is long and refreshing, echoing dark fruit and spice notes.
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The old vine concentration is appealingly evident on this intensely coloured Premier Cru from the slopes above Gevrey-Chambertin. It’s a rich, structured wine with notes of mint and black cherry, chalky acidity and a backbone of tannin. The finish is extremely long and fine here.
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This is fresh, sporting cherry, raspberry, rose, spice and mineral aromas and flavors. Charming, offering a supple texture and a vibrant structure, expanding on the long, saturated aftertaste.
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Dark red-ruby. Very precise aromas of dark berries and smoky minerality convey a stronger impression of energy than the Amoureuses. In a distinctly savory, dark style, showing more smoky minerality than easygoing fruit today. This rather clenched, solidly structured wine finishes with big but fine-grained tannins. Erwan Faiveley describes this wine as "our entry-level Gevrey premier cru," noting that this northeast-facing plot was favored by the dry, warm weather in 2015.
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Red A pure, cherry- and raspberry-flavored red, accented by smoke, spice and mineral notes. Shows a black pepper side as the flavors play out on the aftertaste.
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Bright medium red. Lively aromas of redcurrant, red cherry and pepper, plus a whiff of game. Shows strong graphite and pepper notes in the mouth, but the wine's fruit is currently suppressed by sulfur. Finishes saline, dense and chewy, with more obvious tannins than the Chambolle cuvees. This needs the sweetening influence of a racking.
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Bright, dark red. Black cherry, licorice and a whiff of game on the brooding nose. Sweet, saline and densely packed but a baby today, with subtle dark fruit and game flavors currently cut off by chewy, slightly tough tannins. Quite unevolved right now.
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(from a very large 1.2 ha parcel). An elegant, cool and pure nose
features notes of wild red berries, pungent earth and a sauvage note. There is an equally cool impression to the medium weight plus flavors that exude a fine minerality on the delicious, intense and naturally austere finish. In 2012 this is a muscular, even robust wine but not necessarily rustic.
Healthy bright red. Classic cool Gevrey aromas of black fruits, licorice, mint and game, with lovely floral lift. Tight and youthfully imploded--much less sweet and pliant than the Amoureuses that preceded it. This east/northeast-facing site was picked at the end, along with the Corton-Charlemagne. In a distinctly cool style, finishing with lovely primary perfume.
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Bright red-ruby. Licorice pastille, black cherry and violet on the nose. Very sweet, fat and powerful, but a little chunky following the examples from Chambolle-Musigny, and less complex. But this firmly tannic wine is more powerful and concentrated.
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Bright medium red. Lively aromas of redcurrant, red cherry and pepper, plus a whiff of game. Shows strong graphite and pepper notes in the mouth, but the wine's fruit is currently suppressed by sulfur. Finishes saline, dense and chewy, with more obvious tannins than the Chambolle cuvees. This needs the sweetening influence of a racking.
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Very generous wood dominates the otherwise fresh nose of dark berry, earth and humus aromas. The supple and round medium weight flavors possess good mid-palate concentration and verve before terminating in an austere, cool and mineral inflected finish. My predicted range assumes that the wood can be successfully integrated.
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(from a very large 1.2 ha parcel). A relatively high-toned nose features extremely fresh notes of various red berries along with hints of earth, stone and humus. There is a lovely sense of tension underpinning the delineated, intense and stony medium-bodied flavors that possess solid power and punch on the balanced finish that is a touch less austere than it usually is at this early juncture.
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The 2017 Gevrey-Chambertin La Combe Aux Moines 1er Cru has the most conservative and backward bouquet of Faiveley’s Gevrey Premier Crus; it doesn’t want to come out and play. The palate is medium-bodied with firm, slightly coarse tannin on the entry, sturdy backbone and a chalky, quite forthright finish...
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from a large 1.2 ha parcel). A restrained and markedly cool nose reflects notes of violet, plum, earth and a more discreet touch of wood. The supple and relatively forward medium weight flavors possess an appealing sense of energy, all wrapped in a sleek and stony finish that is less austere than usual. As is the case with several wines in the range, this is not especially dense but it is both very complex and well-balanced.
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Cask sample. Light to mid crimson. Peppery dark-red fruit. Dry but scented on the palate, firm, dry in texture. A little bit lean compared with the richness of some of these Faiveley 2016s but I guess it may fill out a little with time in the bottle.
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Discreet wood easily allows the overtly sauvage and earth-infused aromas of dark berries and humus to shine. The intense, muscular and powerful big-bodied flavors possess good minerality that really comes up on the austere and sneaky long finale. Textbook CAM.
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Strong reduction dominates the nose at present. There is brilliantly good delineation, indeed the medium weight flavors could aptly be described as chiseled, along with a lovely sense of underlying tension to the more mineral-inflected finale that possesses strikingly good persistence. This impeccably well-balanced effort is a classic Chambolle of grace and lace.
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