Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar - Domaine Faiveley 2009 First Reviews
"The best 2009s resemble the '59s in their mocha and coffee notes," said super-consultant Bernard Hervet, adding that mocha is a characteristic of wines made from grapes with very ripe seeds. Other vintages with very ripe seeds, he added, include 2003, 1999, 1990, 1985, 1969, 1964 and 1949. But no Faiveley wine is over 13.6% in 2009, including those that received a bit of chaptalization to draw out their fermentations. Faiveley did a touch more extraction in 2009, and more post-fermentation maceration: according to Hervet, "when the wines are so thoroughly ripe, you can exaggerate them a little bit." Some of the malos finished very early while others only ended in June. The pHs of the 2009s are roughly 0.15 higher than those of the 2008s, noted Hervet; for example, the grand crus tend to be around 3.6, compared to 3.43 for the same wines in 2008, "but the 2009s are strong due to their balance." Hervet believes that the best '09s have greater overall balance than the 2005s, although he considers 2005 to be the better vintage at the level of the village wines. (Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY)
(Full reviews after the jump)
