FAIVELEY (Nuits-Saint-Georges) -- Part I: 2015 Red Premiers Crus Tasted from Cask

Erwan Faiveley said that the changes to more elegant wines when he took over and brought in Bernard Hervet had maybe gone too far, and the 2015s represented an adjustment back, reaching a happy medium. I agree wholeheartedly, with the 2015s arguably being the most memorable of my more than twenty years of annual visits to Faiveley. The one unfortunate drawback was that the wines from Chambolle-Musigny were all completely reduced, and so not in condition to permit tasting them when I visited.

Harvesting on the Côte d’Or and the Côte Chalonnaise took place between 2 and 11 September. For the reds, production is about 15% below a normal harvest. For reds, the premiers and grands crus were made with about 25% whole clusters. In the recent past, new oak has been about 2/3 for the grands crus and 1/3 to 2/3 for the premiers crus; for 2015, those numbers are about 50-65% for the grands crus and 35-50% for the premiers crus. (Continue reading here.)