Dom. Faiveley
Clos des Cortons Monopole Grand Cru
Corton Rouge
2016

The producer

Established as a merchant wine company in 1825, over the years the various generations of the family have accumulated vineyards, and today Faiveley is one of the largest landholders in Burgundy, with a total of 115ha. While 72ha may be in the Cote Chalonnaise producing fabulous wines of great value, there are 10ha of 13 Grand Crus and 15ha of 25 Premier Crus in some of the finest vineyards on the Cote d’Or, including Gevrey, Chambolle, Vougeot, Vosne Romanee, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Aloxe-Corton, Pommard, Volnay, and Puligny. These are the jewels in Faiveley’s elaborately encrusted crown.

Faiveley produced wines which saw very long ageing for most of the second part of the 20^th Century, often with more than a touch of aggression of tannins and rather rustic fruit. The 21^st century has seen a massive transformation and, while the wines retain their depth and concentration, they now show more precision of fruit, with fabulous balance and finesse. These are pure and precise wines that clearly express their individual terroirs and which seem to just get better and better. Faiveley can seemingly now do no wrong.

The wine

Faiveley has, since 1874, owned the 2.76 hectares monopole vineyard Clos des Cortons Faiveley, which must officially append the Faiveley name on the label. The Clos is at the northern end of the appellation and east-facing which gives a rich but supple style of Cortons. About a quarter of a hectare at the top of the Clos is planted to Chardonnay which is entitled to the appellation Corton-Charlemagne, it is however the Corton Rouge which is the standout. A wine of powerful black cherry richness with spice and earthy complexity, Clos des Cortons has great energy, density, and persistence.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.