Followers of this Blog will know that your scribe really respects and admires everything from Domaine Faiveley! References to this esteemed house are abundant on this site with the last one for a Chambertin Clos de Beze complex vertical on January 16, 2023 linked in detail here. Another keen knowledgeable aficionado collector is Ian Mottershead who generously donated the wines for that Group of Eight event and again kindly did so for this Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin tasting/dinner on November 19 at Boulevard in Vancouver. We started with the underrated balanced value bubbles of CHAMPAGNE LE MESNIL BLANC DE BLANCS GRAND CRU followed by two delicious whites: MEURSAULT BLAGNY PREMIER CRU 2020 JOSEPH FAIVELEY Rich full oaky hazelnuts very Meursault defined with ripe flavours drinking forwardly.

CORTON CHARLEMAGNE GRAND CRU 2017 DOMAINE FAIVELEY 13.5 abv Cool south mostly east facing Ladoix upper hillside on hard rocky limestone soil. Two of fifteen barrels produced in 2017 for the first time from expanded plantings of Chardonnay. Light colour with young aromas of complex mineral fruit with subtle 40% new oak. So classy with great length but will develop depth and richer textures with more patient bottle age. Ian’s outstanding favourite. My vote for “Wine of the Night”.

The main event were 8 vintages of CORTON CLOS DES CORTONS FAIVELEY GRAND CRU. Recent plantings in 2002 & 1987 but lots of old vines 1977, 1976, 1971, 1965, 1956 & 1936.

Ian provided an insightful history and overview of Faiveley now with the seventh generation. Cellarmaster Blair Curtis provided his excellent detailed reaction on the reds summarized as “needing time of 10 years more”. Also his wise advice that they improved with food (duck breast & striploin) – especially 1996 & 1991. A few of my brief impressions:

1998: A bit angular and reserved nose. It does have cherries but the cedar tobacco is almost like young Bordeaux. Will develop and open up better with time.

1997: Beautiful but reticent bouquet of cherry core with brightness. Full mid palate with elegance and balanced acidity but more firmness on the finish. Underrated. My fav of this flight.

1996: This is lighter colour and leaner fruit but with tannins. Not an ideal balance. As the Chambertin showed a bit “strange” dry and tannic – not the best Faiveley vintage – but is better with food alright.

1995: Vibrant cherries sweet mid palate drying finish. My glass had too much fine sediment. The most enjoyable drinking presently of the first flight and the “surprise” for Blair.

Erwan Faiveley has told me that his father Francois made the wines from 1977 to 2005 using two different procedures:

1977 -1994: Grapes were brought into the tanks by gravity and gently vinified at lower temperatures always with an emphasis on saving the aromas and producing wines for aging.

1995 – 2005: Changed to a new cooling system for the harvested grapes using a pipe with glycerol that tended to break the skins releasing more sugar into the vats resulting in a more rapid and sometimes even violent fermentation at higher temperatures with wines of more extract and tannins but less finesse.

2007 to today: Back to the early days of Francois with outstanding wines with more silky refinement!

Your scribe noticed this difference in style with the first flight (1995-1998) more extracted drier tannins while the second flight (1993-1988) had much more finesse.

1993: Warmer year. Pure and penetrating with a tremendous mouth feel with rounder maturing tannins. Some finesse. Blair felt it was “underrated and spectacular”. Impressive indeed – as was Chambertin.

1991: One bottle corked so a smaller pour. A bit lighter but has charm. My glass unfortunately had a lot of sediment that spoiled the texture. Developed with long flavours.

1990: Best fruit depth and power of all the Cortons. Quite fresh. Lacking the charm which is so important to me. Lots of fruit depth though and balance so I am optimistic it will still develop more complexity and those silky textures given extended bottle age. One of our members Young was blowing air with a straw into this glass to help it open up. Unique idea.

1988: Bottle variation from sweet tobacco to cherry mint. Best had subtle developing flavours with elegance. No sediment in my glass so the texture is much better. Lots of elegance and balancing acidity. Very long. Old vibrant style of higher acid and firmer tannins of 1988 has come together.

A most interesting and educational tasting/dinner!

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Question: What is the lastest on the expected quality of the California harvest for wine vintage 2024?

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Inter Rhone and Rhone Valley Vineyards have been successfully educating us on their wines for decades. Your scribe has been fortunate to attend many of these seminars including the most recent one held in Vancouver on November 19 at Delara Restaurant. They supplied an updated tasting booklet full of valuable information on Soils & Typicity and detailed info on the 9 main grape varieties of the 37 grown there. Also an excellent training presentation by knowledgeable sommelier Kelcie Jones on the wines. Organizer Ludovic Girondin Senior Project Manager with Hopscotch Season (formerly Sopexa) in Montreal was interested in some material presented at an earlier event on October 7, 2013 including that tasting booklet I had brought along containing a Did You Know? feature on the Rhone. Also many most useful detailed maps of the regions that they gave out previously but now which you must search for on the internet.

Lots of information provided including facts that in 2023 there were 19% of wines by volume as organic (and 20% by area), 64,467 hectares with 2.4 million hectolitres harvested, and 319 million bottles sold. The popular Cotes du Rhone category has 17 Crus (including 2 naturally sweet ones from Beaumes de Venise & Rasteau) classified as Villages with Geographical designation (Total 22: 1 Ardeche, 4 Gard, 11 Vaucluse & 6 Drome), Villages AOC from 95 communes, and AOC from 172 communes. Nine wines showing lovely diversity at good value were presented:

AOC COSTIERES DE NIMES DOMAINE GASSIER NOSTRE PAÏS 2021 A white using organic agriculture for 80% Grenache Blanc, 15% Clairette, and 5% Viognier.

AOC HERMITAGE M. CHAPOUTIER CHANTE ALOUETTE 2020 Classy white of Marsanne organic (Demeter) delicious now but with wonderful aging capacity.

AOC TAVEL CHATEAU D’AQUERIA ROSE 2022 Beautiful pink colour from 6 grape blends of Grenache, Syrah, Clairette, Mourvedre, Bourboulenc, & Cinsault in 50/20/10/10/5/5 percentage.

AOC COTES DU RHONE VILLAGES VALREAS DOMAINE MAS DE SAINTE CROIX 2021 This Tendresse d’un Climat label is 60% Grenache & 40% Syrah organic grapes fermented in stainless steel.

AOC COTES DU RHONE VILLAGES BROTTE LA FIOLE RÉSERVE 2020 Grenache & Syrah

AOC COTES DU RHONE VILLAGES PLAN DE DIEU ROMAIN DUVERNAY 2022 The common blend again here at 70% Grenache & 30% Syrah.

AOC COSTIERES DE NIMES VIGNERONS PROPRIETES ASSOCIES SAVEURS DU TEMPS This 2021 uses the Grenache/Syrah blend at 75/25.

AOC CAIRANNE CAVE DE CAIRANNE “CAMILLE & CECILIA” 2021 This adds some young peppery herbal notes from 20% Mourvedre to Grenache/Syrah 50/30

AOC CORNAS DOMAINE VINCENT PARIS GRANIT 30 2021 Old fav of mine from 100% Syrah on steep granite slopes (30 degrees of the name) from youngest vines. Check out their Cornas Granit 60 and the very old vines of the amazing Cornas la Geynale. This latest Rhone presentation was clearly the best one yet. Impressed by the brilliant food produced by Delara with that signature Middle Eastern muhammara roasted red pepper and walnuts matching the wines. Appreciated the wine pairing suggestions given.

Asked attending Anais Richard, Export Marketing Manager for Inter Rhone about the difficult “mildew” issues for Grenache from the early rainy weather during 2024. She most kindly provided me with an outstanding updated detailed vintage report. Well done. I have posted this report for your reference.

Consider attending the largest professional wine fair in the Rhone Valley on March 31 to April 3, 2025 for the 13th edition of decouvertes-vins-rhone.com.

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Question: Is Les Vignerons de Buzet White Wine from 1998 safe to drink?

Answer: Old wine can deteriorate by oxidation plus losing the attractive young grape fruit expression – especially wines produced for earlier consumption. However, generally very old wines are still safe to drink though may be turning to vinegar. If the wine was unclean to begin with it could allow more spoilage due to microbes but unlikely and you can usually spot this when you open the bottle. Your wine from the highly regarded Cooperative of Gascogne in SouthWest France I believe is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc & Semillon. Bottle variation after 25 years is inevitable but you may be in for a delightful rich surprise from the age worthy Semillon component. But if not enough fresh fruit left for you then just make a Kir by adding some creme de cassis or other fruit liqueur. Enjoy.

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Surprised and delighted to be invited by experienced Brendan Jones of The Cachet Collection wine agency to a tasting/lunch on November 8 at the popular Nightingale restaurant in Vancouver featuring Simon Family Estate wines. Our small group table adjoining the kitchen included Brendan, Chris Rielly Wine Director Hawksworth Restaurant Group, proprietor Sam Simon, son Michael Simon, and Josh Kretchmer Director of National & Private Client Sales. Pleased to see such a high powered delegation attending in our Canadian market for top quality Napa Valley cult wines. Thank you.

A new Estate with first releases in 2019 but a member of The Napa Valley Reserve since 2003 and influenced and encouraged by icon Bill Harlan to start their own label. Interesting story of how Sam Simon attracted winemaker Maayan Koschitzky to form a dynamic wine team reported here in the Robb Report on March 7, 2022 and in Forbes on November 30, 2022 here. They now have a tasting room by appointment (tel: 707-222-6088) in downtown Napa at 1040 Main Street. Impressed by how wine lover collector Sam Simon brought two white wines as an aperitif not from the winery but from his own private cellar:

2023 ROSSJ-BASS GAJA Langhe white showing the Chardonnay grape in a fragrant floral Piedmont style.

2020 Y – YGREC Bordeaux Blanc is a vibrant dry Sauternes from Chateau dYquem. Sam stated it was an inspiration for his own Sauvignon Blanc. Sam strongly feels you need both “passion & patience” to produce great wine! Our tasting was well orchestrated and matched with some superb dishes from the diverse excellent Nightingale menu (highly recommended). Some brief impressions on the wines:

2021 GOLDEN ORE SAUVIGNON BLANC Oakville Napa Valley: Harvested early August 20 at 3.13pH & 7.7 TA aged 18 months in French oak (30% new) at 14 abv producing only 200 cases. It has balance, oak, and weight from lees aging but 100% SB from quite a different terroir than the Ygrec inspiration – which also uses 20-25% Semillon in their blend.

2023 TIGRESS ROSE OF GRENACHE Rutherford Napa Valley: Fresh bright and lively all stainless in the Provenance style with 6 1/2 hours skin contact + 4 months lees was harvested September 22 at 3.3pH & 5.9TA at 12.5 abv producing only 200 cases. The refreshing fav and inspiration of Sams wife Nada Simon.

2021 PETER DOUBLE BLESSINGS CABERNET FRANC & CABERNET SAUVIGNON: First of two very different double blessings of only 90 cases each to honor the distinct personalities of twin sons Peter & Michael. The wines highlight these characteristics according to Michael with Peter a day person, light heated, and open with a sense of humour while his is a night owl, less open, more serious. This has warmer Oakville fruit with 57% Cab Franc (hoping to reach 75% next year) and 43% Cab Sauv from the Tench Family Vineyard with a lighter rim and elegant floral herbal signature at 14.8 abv in a popular easier style.

2021 MICHAEL DOUBLE BLESSINGS CABERNET SAUVIGNON: Mainly Yountville Sleeping Lady vineyard plus Coombsville Rocca Collinetta vineyard with 22 months in French oak (80% new) same as Peters. Similar stats to Peter but it is darker, more energy structured fruit with riper tannins at 14.9 abv. Needs some bottle aging.

2021 SIMON NAPA VALLEY CABERNET SAUVIGNON: Second vintage of multi vineyard sites with a little less new oak (70%) from a variety of Coopers but with 2% Cab Franc at 14.8 abv producing 700 cases. Lots of ripe fruit but a lovely balanced elegance to it. Less vineyard defined but captures the Napa style of Cabernet Sauvignon very well in this textbook vintage of smaller berries and lower yields. Will be more Single Vineyard programs released or 2022.

2021 SIMON FAMILY ESTATE RESERVE CABERNET SAUVIGNON: Smart use of three renowned vineyards of Vine Hill Ranch, Tench, and Collinetta does impress with only 250 cases at 14.9 abv. Lauded with some very high scores and even a perfect 100 from Decanter a stellar wine. Like the powerful concentrated intensity of the ripe select fruit which doesnt seem hot so balanced by the elegance. Captured some wonderful flavours and textures with refinement in this vintage. Obviously it will age a long time from this super vintage.

They are looking for more top quality vineyard sites to supply best grapes and considering a future Sparkling wine in the portfolio. Your scribe stated that if Robert Mondavi was here he would have expected some of the best Cab Franc to go into the Reserve for more complexity. Josh agreed and commented that they will be adding some Cab Franc into the Reserve wine in 2023. I also said the bottle weights were way too heavy for the growing number of sustainable environment supporters. They got excited about that question and agreed with me so are taking steps to correct the issue. Bottles will continue to weigh less (10% in 2022) and are going away completely from styrofoam and foils by instead using all disposable green felt wrap. Astute and so aware. Admire their approach to everything that goes into producing a fine wine.

Liked how they modestly stated they still are learning from the previous vintages experienced: the surprising heat and fires of 2017, the smoke taint problems of 2020, the key of watering the vines in the best places at the right time and canopy management in 2021, and dealing with the shutting down of the vines from extremely high temperatures of 100-100+F in 2023.

The best is yet to come!

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