94

Neal Martin

Vinous

The 2018 Chambertin Clos-de-Bèze Grand Cru is the most opulent of the four tasted from this vineyard, ravishing dark cherries, raspberry and cranberry scents, touches of tobacco and humidor. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins, real structure and density, still quite oaky with a creamy texture though that will be subsumed with time. A serious Grand Cru that will demand several years in bottle, but mercurial and just losing some of its initial finesse with aeration. Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2018 red tasting. 11/2022

94

Jasper Morris

Inside Burgundy

Rich and solid crimson purple. Very backward nose apart from a little new wood. Very broad in its style, the oak remains prominent, the fruit is dark, there are spicy brambly notes throughout. A lactic note comes across, holding the wine back at the moment. So much quality fruit lies underneath that this may yet come out to merit a higher rating. Drink from 2033. Tasted Sep 2022.

94-96

William Kelley

Robert Parker/Wine Advocate

The 2018 Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru soars from the glass with a rich bouquet of cassis, dark berries, baking chocolate, woodsmoke, loamy soil, licorice and grilled game. On the palate, it's full-bodied, rich and concentrated, with terrific energy and structural refinement despite the wine's texture and volume and a long, saline finish. This was an excellent tasting with Faiveley's technical director Jérôme Flous, who has handled the 2018 vintage very skillfully indeed. Flous told me that, in his opinion, wines with comparatively low acidity need compensatory tannin to age and to temper their sweetness of fruit. In that regard, he feels he did not extract sufficiently, so he took things a little further in 2018. I am happy to report that—even if extraction is something of a dirty word among the Burgundy commentariat—Flous struck a good balance, producing deep and complex wines with texture and structure, yes, but no asperity in the least. Elegant but age worthy, they exemplify Faiveley's contemporary style and come recommended. These wines were tasted from representative samples at Faiveley's Nuits-Saint-Georges facility. Readers looking for my notes on the 2017 Faiveley wines from bottle can find them in the End of November 2019 Issue of The Wine Advocate. 01/2020