Faiveley Pinot Noir Bourgogne Joseph Faiveley 2020

Founded in 1825 and now in its seventh generation, Domaine Faiveley has built one of Burgundy's most impressive estate portfolios — over 120 hectares of meticulously selected parcels from Chablis to the Côte Chalonnaise, including some of the region's most celebrated grand cru sites. The Joseph Faiveley Bourgogne Pinot Noir is the domaine's entry point and a genuinely reliable one: the fruit is sourced from prime parcels across the Côte de Nuits, Côte de Beaune and Côte Chalonnaise, where limestone and clay soils provide ideal terroir for Pinot Noir, and the wine is aged for 12 to 14 months in a combination of stainless steel and French oak barrels. The depth of resources behind this wine — the same cellars, the same team, the same attention to detail that produces Les Cazetiers and Mazis-Chambertin — means that even at the Bourgogne level, Faiveley's standards translate into something that overdelivers for its appellation. 

Notes of small red fruits, spices and a light mineral touch on the nose; the mouth assertive with fruit and a nice fullness, the tannins melted and elegant, the wine possessing a certain structure that sets it apart from less ambitious Bourgogne rouge. Smoky notes of red berries with hints of cedar and incense lead to a light to medium-bodied palate with bright acidity balancing ripe strawberry, raspberry and cranberry — enough structure to develop secondary flavours of licorice, cola and dried herbs through to a long, savoury finish. Drink with pleasure now or allow three to four years in the cellar — this is the kind of Bourgogne rouge that makes a compelling case for the appellation at its most honest.