Faiveley Offer

A great Domaine revitalised.

Faiveley is one of the great names of Burgundy. And furthermore the Domaine is one of the greatest in Burgundy – a point which is often overlooked because of Faiveley’s negociant arm. Faiveley own large holdings in a wide range of vineyards with names to conjure with – “Le Musigny”, “Chambertin Clos de Beze”, “Bienvenues Batard Montrachet” and “Batard Montrachet”……to name but a few. Yet however prestigious the appellation, anyone drinking young Faiveley wines during the 1990s and early 2000s could be forgiven for not being immediately enamoured by the contents of their glass. This was a period during which Faiveley made unrepentantly firm, structured wines, capable of, and indeed demanding, long term cellaring. Here you found wines which were always ‘correct’ – but which seldom seduced in their youth.

As so often is the case in Burgundy, a change in the wines came in tandem with generational change at the winery. By 2004, Erwan Faiveley had begun to take the reins from his father Francois, and Bernard Hervet from Bouchard was appointed to help him modernise the Domaine in 2005. From 2006, and then more apparently in 2007 (by which time Erwan had assumed full responsibility) the style of the wines had begun to change – amongst the red wines the tannins were becoming softer and more integrated, revealing more generous fruit. Meanwhile the whites were becoming livelier, fresher and more vibrant. How this change of style was achieved is well documented elsewhere: less oak, better quality oak and gentler extraction – to put it in a nutshell.

Faiveley now makes some of Burgundies most reliably excellent wines right across their wide range of appellations, from the junior, to the most prestigious. Recent positive press coverage reflects the reinvigoration of this great Domaine. (From 2008-2012 Faiveley have received some of the highest scores awarded by both Allen Meadows and Stephen Tanzer). We are proud to feature many of those wines here