Your scribe admits to a long time respect for the venerable Burgundy firm of Faiveley established in 1825. In my IWFS Monograph “An Appreciation Of The Age Of Wine” (published 2012) there is a reference made during the 1980s of “Tasting 1929 Latricieres-Chambertin with the astute Francois Faiveley in his office after hours. He has such a finely-tuned nose that he could detect the smell of the floor cleaners working way down the hall from behind closed office door saying that it interfered with the still young (even though 50+ years old) exotic perfumes of marvellous truffles, forest floor and tobacco of this beauty.” Also several previous references in this Blog to Faiveley including January 3, 2018 here on my Ask Sid Wednesday feature about fermentation temperatures and on May 27, 2014 here “on three plots of Chambertin Clos de Beze kept separately before blending” and other wine details.

Erwan Faiveley (now 7th generation) experienced the harvest in 2004 then became in 2005 GM/Chair from his father Francois at the early age of 25 (the same age that Francois joined his dad Guy in the firm back in 1976). Erwan’s sister Eve joined in 2014. Reputation for Domaine Faiveley has continued to be very high but style change has been noted from the bigger acidic, more tannic, long aging older one to a lighter, accessible, finesse, silky, and subtleness of a new modern one.

Our Group of Eight in Vancouver started 2023 off right with a smashing culinary event at Blue Water Cafe on January 10 with all wines generously donated by top fine wine collector member Ian Mottershead. What a rare special treat indeed! The aperitif of classy tight 2008 Krug Vintage Champagne brought forth lots of discussion about this “classic beauty” with higher Meunier at 25% providing citric tension to the structured 53% Pinot Noir & classy fruit aromatics of 22% Chardonnay. Opened up so nicely when matched to an exquisite nouvelle Lobster “Thermidor” starter with Spaetzle & Dijon mustard Mornay. We thought Krug 2008 perfectly previewed the elegant theme of the 8 red Burgundies that followed. Chambertin Clos de Beze is 15.4 hectares (about 38 acres) with Faiveley the 4th largest holdings at 1.29 ha/3.2 acres (behind Damoy, Rousseau, and Drouhin-Laroze) usually is more delicate & open aromatics when young than sturdy Chambertin to the south but both develop so well with lots of time in the cellar. Here are the 8 Clos de Beze tasted in this vertical with some brilliant current insights on the vintages provided to me by Erwan Faiveley (EF) plus a few brief impressions by your scribe (SC):

2019 CHAMBERTIN CLOS DE BEZE FAIVELEY:

EF: “Maybe the greatest vintage of the 2010s at Domaine Faiveley with everything I love about Burgundy – big, fruity, delicate, long, sappy, very terroir specific”.

SC: Bright red + explosive aromas followed by a wonderful palate full of clean perfect approachable fruit. Alluring delicacy already with a touch of Oriental spice. Even this lover of older wines is blown away with the complex lovely delivery of this youth. Delightful elegant surprise of the night. Congrats!

2006 CHAMBERTIN CLOS DE BEZE FAIVELEY:

EF: “Sad it was after 2005. Great vintage getting tertiary. Unfortunately some touch of earthy geosmin character on some terroir specific – especially in Cotes de Beaune – though don’t recall taint in Beze so should be awesome.”

SC: Lighter browner rim. Nose developed with some interesting tertiary tar notes. Open forwardly, stylish, rather delicate but drier fruit and competing in tough company.

2005 CHAMBERTIN CLOS DE BEZE FAIVELEY:

EF: “Had this vintage 2 months ago showing stellar with so many years in front of her, Greatest vintage of the 2000s in my opinion.”

SC: Very dark – what depth of colour. More reluctant deep nose than the first two wines. Admire the classy balanced fruit classic statement. Still requires patience for the tannins and to develop all that fantastic potential. Ultimately it will be the best one in this vertical.

2003 CHAMBERTIN CLOS DE BEZE FAIVELEY:

EF: “Would love to hear your thoughts as I still wonder whether it’s a great vintage or not. I would say yes?”

SC: Darkest of first flight that carries on right to the edge. Deep ripe intense hot year is slightly stewed but smooth softer full powerful richer delicious style with a touch of chocolate notes. Controversial year but likeable here. An atypical vintage perhaps not great like the 2005 but really easy to enjoy now – especially with superbly prepared “ris de veau” rich sweetbreads.

2002 CHAMBERTIN CLOS DE BEZE FAIVELEY:

EF: “Great vintage that we missed. I don’t believe we made wines up to the level of that vintage unfortunately.”

SC: Deep with a paling edge. Some of that lovely 2002 finesse comes through but does have less understated subdued fruit with a fair amount of acidity. Picked too early? EF is very frank & hard on his
Domaine wines this year but he is pretty much on the spot correct here. However, it showed better refreshment with an outstanding fresh Quebec boneless quail dish stuffed with chicken and foie gras.

1996 CHAMBERTIN CLOS DE BEZE FAIVELEY:

EF: “Strange Faiveley vintage – a little dry and rather tannic. I am not a big fan of 1996 vintage though when I last tasted this Beze in 2013 my note reads: Really nice colour, fresh & vibrant nose, mocha, and cranberries. Really good 16/20”

SC: Deep maturing rim. Sweet entry initially but dries out in mid-palate with more tannins than fruit on the leaner finish. A bit too austere. OK.

1993 CHAMBERTIN CLOS DE BEZE FAIVELEY:

EF: “OMG – my favourite vintage of the 1990s. Exceptional in Gevrey-Chambertin. I am sure this will be WOTN – Lucky you! 1993 Latricieres was the wine that convinced me to take over my father Francois one day. I had it first time in July 1997 and that wine has been my favourite ever since – so great!”

SC: Deeper look than 2002 & 1996. Stylish somewhat reluctant bouquet at first but opened up to be the best nose of the second flight. Admire the fruit, acid and tannins all in integrated balance here resulting in amazing delicacy and elegance. Beautiful bottle. Great but less depth here than in 2005.

1990 CHAMBERTIN CLOS DE BEZE FAIVELEY:

EF: “Question Mark? Is it that great of a vintage? Will it be ready one day? Won’t it dry out before being ready?”

SC: Insightful questions raised by EF. SC generally continues to enjoy the charm of the underrated 1989 vintage against the bold slow developing tannic 1990s. Here Beze looks dark, deep, and youthful. Presents itself as a stern hard pupil with way more structure & tannins showing than the subdued fruit when served from a well preserved cellar. EF hit the nail squarely on the head with his issue raised! Seems big and full of potential but development continues to need careful monitoring. Jury is out.

Based on that spectacular 2019 showing your scribe is looking forward to trying more of the recent vintages from the many appellations that EF and his team are producing. Boy are they ever on the right high quality wine track! Well done. Recommend you try some.

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Question: For an American Southern Style band boneless skinless chicken breast recipe I had to grab another wine and chose a California shiraz. Do you think the recipe will turn out satisfactorily? I could add a bit of a dry red, such as Paisano.

Answer: Thanks for your intriguing cooking with wine question. Good choice to use a spicy red shiraz (syrah) or even a slightly sweeter Paisano (“friend”) in your chicken breast recipe. It should turn out satisfactorily to be very tasty indeed but more in a “Coq Au Vin” style that will change the colour appearance of the bird. You must be adding the standard ingredients of Paprika, Brown Sugar, and Garlic with your red wine. More common perhaps but certainly less Southern would be to use any white wine to keep that boneless skinless pure white breast appearance intact. Should work well but of course differently with any quality wine you pick – red or white.

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Followers of this Blog are aware of my fondness for aged wines produced from the Nebbiolo grape variety in Piedmont. Some interesting more recent vintages out there to monitor led by the classic style of 2016. Purchased bottles from Produttori del Barbaresco – especially their rich Riserva Crus from Rabaja & Montestefano – in Magnum format and am now wondering how long before these will be on their best plateau of drinkability. Barbaresco had better weather conditions than Barolo in 2014 but both excelled in 2013. Top Barolo (and Barbaresco) can age brilliantly. Alessandro Masnaghetti with his insightful most helpful maps and Menzioni Geografiche Aggiuntive (MGA) Encyclopedia is a treasure in helping us to understand the amazing diversity of the vineyards in Piedmont. Check out the Ask Sid question on Barolo Vineyard Maps on August 23, 2017 here. Intensive and fun project for the avid consumer to study them looking for similarities and differences.

Over the last few decades your scribe has been enthralled by the regional differences of Barolo as well as the specific vineyards within them. Enjoy them all yet the historic Brunate vineyard in La Morra (but extends down the hill into Barolo) from Marcarini (traditionalists now 6 generations) has been, until more recently, the one most easily available in the Vancouver market. Marcarini Brunate at 300 metres altitude facing S/SW was lower priced and on release often showed quite acidic, angular and tannic. Ironic as La Morra generally tends to be fresh, fruity and less weighty than other regions including Serralunga d’Alba & Monforte d’Alba – less structured & more aromatic, elegant, and for earlier drinking. Also clay, calcareous, and argillaceous with magnesium soils tended to do better in drier late vintages than early wet ones. Tried this last week comparing the outstanding vintage 2010 (see Blog “Barolo -The Hot Collector Wine” on February 23, 2015 here) and the late picked 2004 of Marcarini Brunate. Age has helped them both to develop into wonderful food wines with dinner showing admirable texture and complex smoothness. Good value that with patience improved considerably with bottle age. An under the radar traditional old style producer that is recommended and currently available wines are even better than they did previously with a more careful vineyard selection of grapes.

2010 BAROLO BRUNATE MARCARINI Very tannic when released with variable scores. Vines planted 1985 & 1986 spent 50 days in cement fermenters on the skins and 2 years in medium sized oak barrels of 20/40 hl size resulting in 2000 cases. In 2023 starting to come around with a real depth of intense velvety fruit with surprising structure and length. Tertiary development starting with a depth of spice, balsamic, tobacco, some “tar & roses”, really rather complex. Impressive. Delicious with starter eggplant parmigiana and main dish of boneless lamb shank. No rush at all with this. Confident it will develop even more Brunate distinct terroir with better open bouquet and supple delicate textures with more cellaring. Patience. Value. On my last visit to Marcarini in October 2019 was advised by them that there will be an upcoming release this decade of 2010 magnums. Watch out for them. Excellent potential.

2004 BAROLO BRUNATE MARCARINI Also good garnet-red right to the rim but lighter tones than 2010. Less depth. Lovely pure open aromatics with more underbrush, mushroom, and menthol styling. Finish is a bit dry plus less intense and not as long a finish as 2010. Developing nicely in its second decade resulting in a beautiful match with a course of sweet tender lamb shoulder, parsnips, squash, and appropriate Sicilian Casarecce (short “S” shape with narrow grooves) pasta. Value. Drink presently.

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Question: Which wine country has avoided phylloxera damaging the vineyards?

Answer: Tricky. Phylloxera results from an insect feeding on the sap of grapevine roots thereby killing them. Probably the consensus answer would be Chile. However, there are many other wine producing regions that have been phylloxera-free so far. These include the historic Colares in Portugal on those sandy soils, isolated Tasmania and other parts of Australia (Barossa Valley), parts of Hungary, and those special slate soils for Riesling in the Mosel Germany. Has anyone researched this issue and come up with a definitive list?

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Happy New Year! Hope the 2023 year provides lots of interesting wine and food experiences for all of you. Over the festive season your scribe was fortunate to try several wonderful mature wines from around the world including some choice bubbles (fresh bright rich complex 1990 La Grande Dame en magnum from Veuve Clicquot). One of the strongest impressions made was the solid performance of some older cabernet sauvignon variety wines from the unique terroir terra rossa red soils in Coonawarra Australia. Long time admirer of the Wynns Coonawarra Estate Grown Cabernet Sauvignon which has been featured on this Blog before on January 18, 2021 linked here. Tried many vintages of that famous Black Label and though some of the editions back in the early 1960s showed a tad too much volatile acidity since then (especially over the last 30+ years) they have proven to be one of the very best quality big production value ageable cabernets in the world. Just tasted again the classic 2013 (the 58th vintage) which continues to elegantly shine at only 13.5 abv showing young black currant plum notes with a touch of spicy mint – and of course that lovely opulent 1986 & famous herbal 1976 (Jimmy Watson Trophy winner) surprisingly still so drinkable.

Paired this time with the 2013 Wynns was the 1977 Laira Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon made & bottled by Brand (established in 1966 but with old vines already planted and before the sale to McWilliams). This my last bottle was in hopeful anticipation being the best young cabernet your scribe tasted during his visit to Australia in 1980 for the IWFS World Convention. Extensive write-up on this Convention in my Monograph “An Appreciation Of The Age Of Wine” where some older Grange Bin 95 treasures of 1971 & that Decanter Living Legend 1955 were served. Laira is named after a ship shown on the front label by original owner sea captain Stentiford from the 1890s which was a popular wine on release for the 1977 winning Gold Medals in Brisbane & Melbourne shows. Tasted spectacularly in 1980 though James Halliday in his book “Wines & Wineries of South Australia” (1981) states: “Putting recurrent question of volatility to one side, I believe that Eric Brand consistently produces the greatest – certainly the most distinctive and full-flavoured – Coonawarra reds. It may be that very edge of volatility which lifts Brand’s wines out of the ruck, although their colour is usually stronger and structure better than other Coonawarra reds.” Halliday goes on to write that this $4.50 cabernet sauvignon 1977 is ” Deep-coloured, intensely flavoured with complex fruit structure augmented by new wood. The 1976, 1977, and 1978 wines were absolutely superb.”

This 1977 vintage of Laira has been admired over the last decade in Cellar Tracker with high scores in the 90s but all reviewers complaining about the fragile corks. Our bottle did have a very small cork but came out intact with my Durand even after 45 years. The wine was still a dark red mature colour but wonderfully smooth displaying complexity with elegance, finesse and delicacy. Doesn’t disappoint with volatility or lack of fruit but is very mature. Of course much less bold fruit than the 36 years younger Wynns 2013 but a lovely endorsement for the longevity of Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon. Recommend buying a few bottles of more recent Coonawarra vintages and putting them away – but maybe for only 10-20 years rather than 45.

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