Nuits St-Georges Premier Cru

From Faiveley’s first vineyard, which was purchased in the 1830s, comes this lovely, bright, mid-red purple wine. It’s very perfumed with some delicious ripe cherries; this is very pure, precise and refined on the palate with a very persistent finish.

Erwan Faiveley believes that 2014 would be regarded as a great vintage – if only 2015 had not come along to trump it. He feels that the changes which have taken place in the cellar since 2007 have had a discernible effect on the quality of Faiveley wines, while similar qualitative changes in the vineyard are only now bearing fruit. Here, balanced but restricted yields are the key.

A triumph from the first sight of its brilliant bright purple colour. Ripe blackberries and plums make up a sumptuous mid-palate exuding all the warmth of the vintage. Waves of flavour continue right through to the very persistent finish. Drink 2012-2020.

Mingling plums and prunes with weight and depth, this wine is initially restrained but it is all there. A huge volume of flavour develops on the palate, revealing a wealth of fruit and some tannins. This is perfectly in balance for the long term, and marks a big step forward for Thibault. Jasper Morris MW,Berrys' Burgundy Director 2011 was a relatively easy year in the vineyards for Thibault, as there were no problems with health. The main decision was the date to pick (from 5th September) which he chose by leaf colour as an indication of the end of the vine cycle. He employed very gentle vinification this year to keep the fruit fresh. Thibault has been moving towards and elegant style, a little bit away from the plumpness of his early wines. He manages this through shrewd judgement on the use of stems and particular attention to the type and toasting of wood to be used. He is especially proud of his ‘tartare’ barrels with minimum toasting.

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Dense, bright purple and offering a powerful nose with dark red fruit and some chocolate notes, the tremendous wine has a structure based on ripe tannins backed up by fresh acidity. A little more time in the barrel will see this wine come up trumps.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Director

2010 is year three of the ‘new’ Faiveley style and they have again delivered an excellent set of wines. They picked from 20th September to 29th, beginning with Côte d’Or whites. The new regime has concentrated on an overhaul of winemaking principles, leading to a refinement of style. Next up will be a renovation of their Côte Chalonnaise cellars. They have also been expanding significantly into the Côte de Beaune, especially for white wines.

Les Porêts was the first vineyard the Faiveleys ever bought. This wine has fair depth of colour, quite gentle and graceful, with medium weight but impressively long. Unusually for the house style, some whole bunches (15%) have been used to lighten the density of central Nuits-St Georges and confirm this as a stylish wine. Medium, deep, red fruit, and very persistent.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director

The new era at Faiveley is now into its sixth vintage and the house style, which allows the fruit to express itself in a very seductive manner while enhancing the individual qualities of each terroir, has been safely established. Now the management is concentrating on reinforcing their supplybase with some crafty contracts and vineyard purchases in both Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits. We may be able to offer more cuvées in the future, and though opportunities are clearly limited by the 2012 vintage circumstances, we have been well looked after this year.

 

A ludicrously small yield, but it is really good this year. Fine, bright, deep pink and purple with very heady fruit and a vast mouthful of energy, much livelier than in some of the earlier vintages. Strongly recommended. 
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer

The vintage began here on 6th October, once again being short on quantity but with good qualitative potential. Thibault feels that the 2013s can take a long barrel ageing, perhaps up to 24 months. He is using fewer lees, but finer, in order to avoid too many reductive problems.

Burgundy 2012 En Primeur - Staff Favourite
Bright red and black fruit, rich and velvety on nose. Delightful black fruit on the palate, rich and pure, but with some fine, grippy tannins keeping it all in check. Yet another triumph from the talented Pierre Vincent of Domaine de la Vougeraie.
Chris Pollington, Fine Wine

The Clos comprises three hectares in all, but half is being replanted. The rest are 40-year-old vines. There is deep red fruit on the nose which blossoms gloriously in the glass and continues on the palate, leaving a rosy glow behind. A spectacular debut vintage.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director

This superb domaine grows in reputation and also in size: this year sees the first vintage of Nuits-St Georges, Clos de Thorey. Look out for even further additions in the next two years. Winemaker Pierre Vincent’s style is for lighter colours and very sensual wines and he has done a cracking job again in 2012; a vintage which supported the plentiful use of whole bunch fermentation. The domaine is certified organic and fully biodynamic.

This Nuits-St Georges Lavires from Jean Grivot has a heavenly nose, with a little Vosne-ish perfume sitting on a bedrock of Nuits. There is perfectly integrated oak, making this a really classy wine with beautiful aromatics all the way through.

Sporting a noble, imperial purple colour, this wine stands out in every department. It is classic Nuits-St Georges in the depth of dark fruit, broad-shouldered, powerful rather than flamboyant; yet with a superbly fresh, almost saline, finish. Drink 2024-2034.
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer

While delighted with the health and quality of his grapes, Thibault felt that it was necessary to adopt a light hand with extraction this year, as phenolic ripeness was only just in place. Sugar levels were correct, acidity in the end just what was needed, so his wines have the typical energy of 2015. There are a few more whole bunches than usual. As always, the wines take longer in this cellar to come round but we were impressed with the potential.

Late malos here. Good colour. Lovely nose. Very pure. Very composed. Full, concentrated and classy. Lots of depth. Full-bodied, ripe, concentrated and intense on the palate. Vigorous. Some tannin. Backward but very classy. Fine plus. From 2012. (Clive Coates - The Vine - Jan-2004)

Etienne Grivot has emerged as a star name in Vosne Romanée and neighbouring Nuits over the last few vintages. This is a superb cuvée of village Nuits, fine and fresh with abundant energy and a subtle range of red and black fruit flavours. Impressively persistent.
(Jasper Morris MW, BBR Buyer)

Nuits St Georges is renowned for its rich, weighty wines, the most stylish of which come from the Vosne-Romanee side of the appellation. Amongst these Aux Lavieres is a well thought of lieu-dit beneath premier cru Les Murgers.