I have travelled Burgundy many times, but never seen or even heard about the village Meuilley. The tasting at Domaine Nicolas Faure certainly put Meuilly on the map for me with one of the most invigorating and memorable tastings I have attended in years.
Domaine Nicolas Faure is a new estate – first vintage was 2011 – established and run as a one man operation by Nicolas Faure.
This is a small estate .. very small indeed … producing around 10 casks of wine per year. So the wines are difficult to find, as demand already is larger than the production. It was therefore a treat to taste the wines this special evening .. some very rare bottles – thanks Nicolas.
Nicolas Faure – the natural
Nicolas Faure is a young man who originates from Bordeaux. He has a quite extensive experience from working for a quite a few famous Domaines. In 2006 he worked at Domaine Agnès Paquet in Meloisey. In 2007 he did an internship at Domaine de la Romanee-Conti – and during this period he attended the Beaune Wine University. In 2009 he spend one year at Domaine Jean-Louis Chave in the Rhone valley and then he had a stay at the Fromm winery in Marlborough, New Zealand.
In 2010 he returned to Domaine de la Romanee-Conti to work in the vineyards, while he began to prepare the start of his own estate. He left the job at DRC in 2015 and is now working at Domaine Prieure Roch in Premeaux – a domaine owned by Henri Roch who is also co-owner and Co-Gerant at Domaine de la Romanee-Conti.
Nicolas has gathered a lot knowledge and inspiration during his journey trough the wine word, and in 2010 he began to lay the foundation to the small estate he is running now.
I have met quite many talents in Burgundy over the last years, but Nicolas Faure is somehow different. He is a man of the terroir and his success is based on his dedicated work in the vineyards – this is then fortunately paired with a quite unique talent for making wines. Last but not least – he is hard working – and has no family vineyards to start with – all vineyards are either bought or rented.
The dedication is fantastic and very inspirational ..
Domaine Nicolas Faure – from minuscule to small
The first vintage was 2011 and it was made without the access to proper cellar facilities. The 2012 and 2013 were made in a friends cellar and finally in 2014 he established his own cellar in Meurilly.
The first vineyard he took over was Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Herbues, located on the border to Vosne-Romanee just above the RN74. First vintage of this wine was 2011 and it has been produced in all the vintages since.
In 2014 he expanded with three more vineyards – a gamey plot in Premeaux, a pinot noir plot in Premeaux and a Aligote plot near Pernand-Vergelesses. In 2015 he got a new village plot in Aloxe-Corton and in this vintage he is producing 5 wines.
Domaine Nicolas Faure – the wines
Nicolas Faure is now producing five wines, these are made from a combination of owned and rented vineyards. In previous vintages some other cuvees were made, and these are also mentioned below.
All the reds are made with 100% whole cluster, and an old fashioned vertical press similar to the one used at Domaine Leroy. Only limited sulphur is used and viticulture is partly organic.
Coteaux Bourguignons Rose 2013
To my knowledge the only Rose made by Nicolas Faure so far. This wine was only made in the 2013 vintage (235 bottles).
Coteaux Bourguignons Pinot Noir 2013
This was the 2013 entry level wine from Nicolas Faure made from Pinot Noir. This wine was only made in the 2013 vintage (1110 bottles was produced).
Coteaux Bourguignons Mes Gamay
This is now the entry level wine from Nicolas Faure made from Gamey grown in Premeaux. This wines was produced in the 2014 vintage (655 bottles) and again in the 2015 vintage.
Bourgogne Aligote La Corvees de Bully
The Aligote is a quite unique wine offering the full qualities and complexity of this overlooked grape vararity. It’s made from a 3 ouvree plot located in Haute Côte de Beane near Pernand Vergelesses on the backside of the Corton hill with more than 100 years old vines … ungrafted Aligoté Doré Centenaire. The vineyard was sadly badly hit by the frost on April 27th 2016, and at this stage it’s uncertain if the vines will recover for the 2017 vintage. In 2014 the production was 723 bottles in total.
Bourgogne Aux Argillieres
The Bourgogne Rouge … Aux Argillieres is produced from a plot in Premeaux located below the village. The first vintage of this wine was 2014 (707 bottles produced). Aux Argillieres was also produced in 2015.
Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Herbues
This is the first wine from the estate, made from a 0.23 ha plot located just south of the Vosne-Romanee appellation in the village terroir Les Herbues. This wine was first produced in the 2011 vintage (934 bottles), and produced each year since. In 2012 a total of 882 bottles was produced, 1042 in 2013 and finally in 2014 – 1443 bottles were send on the market. The 2015 is in cask.
Aloxe-Corton
The Aloxe-Corton is a new wine for the 2015 vintage, and it comes from a plot just outside Ladoix in the village terroir Les Paulands – the plot is only 0.06 ha and have produced one cask of beautiful Aloxe Corton.
Tasting notes from the tasting on June 15th 2016
At the tasting we tasted some older wines, and the full 2015 range from cask. I would like to start out with the three vintages of Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Herbues, as this sort of describes the journey and the improvement in quality.
Domaine Nicolas Faure Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Herbues 2012
The 2012 Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Herbues is forward and quite floral. The nose offer sweet red fruits enriched by some darker forest berries .. its transparent and organic styled. On the palate lovely verve and nerve .. its transparent and quite lightfooted for the vintage but with good intensity. It’s quite developed and already offering a lovely drinkability. Does not quite have the depth, focus and intensity found in the later vintages. A lovely wine nevertheless.
(Drink from 2017) – Good+ – (88p) – Tasted 15/06/2016
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Domaine Nicolas Faure Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Herbues 2014
The 2014 Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Herbues is in my view a big step up in quality from the 2012 vintage. The improvement is most likely due to both two more years of viticultural work and better wine making facilities in the current cellar in Meuilly. The nose offer a symphony of red and darker forest berries – detailed berry notes … backed by a nice mineral touch. On the palate refined and delicate with a beautiful juicy fruit. It’s focused, very pure and the finish is impressively long. A gorgeous wine by any standard .. with a quite unique expression of the fruit – love it!
(Drink from 2023) – Very Good+ – (89 – 91p) – Tasted 15/06/2016
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Domaine Nicolas Faure Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Herbues 2015
In 2015 quality is taken a notch further up … and the Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Herbues 2015 is a quite fantastic wine given the terroir. The nose is bursting with ripe forest berries – expressive and floral .. very detailed and organic with a fine expression of minerality. On the palate rich and generous with juicy red fruit – very pure, vibrant and long – offering all the best sides of the 2015 vintage. A magnificent Nuits-Saint-Georges village in the making – so detailed and delightful – hard to think of better village wines from this appellation.
(Drink from 2026) – Fine – (91 – 92p) – Tasted 15/06/2016 from cask
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The three Nuits-Saint-Georges wines show a significant improvement in quality .. from a promising and lovely 2012 to a truly magnificent 2015 in the making. The style seem to be the same in all three wines, but the detail, intensity and focus has improved dramatically … very impressive … and great treat to taste the older vintages, especially given the minuscule number of bottles left in the cellar.
Domaine Nicolas Faure Coteaux Bourguignons Mes Gamay 2015
I normally don’t publish notes on gamay based wines, but given the development of the prices in Burgundy and the revival of the Boujoulais appellations I have decided to take these on, as many gorgeous wines are made from the Gamay grape. The Coteaux Bourguignons Mes Gamay 2015 is forward and floral with a lot of expressive red and dark fruits in the nose. On the palate rich and generous offering tremendous pleasure. It’s very focused for this level .. a wine for pleasure and enjoyment … its just drinking so well. Sadly the production is limited … a case of this would not last long in my cellar.
(Drink from 2017) – Good – (86 – 87p) – Tasted 15/06/2016 & 17/06/2016
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Domaine Nicolas Faure Bourgogne Aux Argillieres 2014
The Nicolas Faure Bourgogne Les Argillieres 2014 is a gorgeous wine. The nose is offering organic fruit very floral – whole cluster and relatively low SO2. It’s bursting with red and dark forest berries – very detailed and expressive. On the palate rich and weighty for this level … quite well structured … with a lovely expression of terroir. The fruit is detailed with fresh flavors of berries – as if you just picked the berries yourself. It gives you a sense of a direct link to the terroir – a very natural wine. Truly delightful juice.
(Drink from 2020) – Good+ – (87 – 88p) – Tasted 15/06/2016 & 17/06/2016
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Domaine Nicolas Faure Bourgogne Aux Argillieres 2015
The Nicolas Faure Bourgogne Les Argillieres 2015 is a step up from the otherwise gorgeous 2014. The nose is bursting with ripe and juicy red fruit – very forward and floral, with a depth and complexity rarely seen in a Bourgogne Rouge. On the palate gorgeous red fruit – a tremendous mid-palate generosity – offering a nice view to the Premeaux terroir. Love the juicy and vibrant mid-palate fruit … the length, depth and the focus is quite uniquely good for this level. Most likely the best Bourgogne Rouge I have tasted.
(Drink from 2022) – Good+ – (88 – 89p) – Tasted 15/06/2016
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Domaine Nicolas Faure Aloxe-Corton 2015
The Aloxe-Corton 2015 is a bigger wine than the Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Herbues … it has a larger framework and is a bit darker in the expression. The nose offer red and dark berry fruit – detailed and forward – with a nice organic touch (100% whole cluster and relatively low SO2) – just like the other reds. On the palate rich and structured with a juicy and cool fruit. It offers a more masculine presentation of the fruit, and while its a bigger wine than the NSG Les Herboues it’s not nessecaryly significantly better .. I like both.
(Drink from 2026) – Fine – (91 – 92p) – Tasted 15/06/2016
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All the red 2015s here are tremendously good and show the best side of the vintage. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to retaste some of these wines when they are bottled.
The last wines tasted were the aligote .. a mind-boggling wine made from very old vines in a remote vineyard behind the Corton hill. These wines show exactly how great a Aligote can be if it’s made from the best “clone” and old vines.
Domaine Nicolas Faure Bourgogne Aligote La Corvees de Bully 2014
The Bourgogne Aligote La Corvees de Bully 2014 is one of the very best Aligotes I have ever tasted. The nose is very pure and vibrant with a delicate white orchard fruits, hints of menthol and anise .. lovely minerality. On the palate intense and saline with a vibrant pure fruit – it’s quite linear and focused with a impressive length. The purity and depth of the fruit is quite unique for a Aligote .. in my view .. a magnificent wine by all standards. A one of a kind wine – truly magnificent!.
(Drink from 2022) – Very Good+ – (90 – 91p) – Tasted 15/06/2016
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Domaine Nicolas Faure Bourgogne Aligote La Corvees de Bully 2015
The 2015 version of the Bourgogne Aligote La Corvees de Bully is a richer and more generous wine. The nose offer more exotic orchard fruits – it’s expressive and rich. On the palate rich yellow fruit – fine mid-palate focus. The acidity is very fine for the vintage – and clearly the old Aligote vines have done well under the somewhat hot climate conditions in 2015. In my view not quite at the same level as the refined 2014 .. but a lovely Aligote in the making.
(Drink from 2022) – Very Good – (89 – 90p) – Tasted 15/06/2016
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Tasting Notes for this producer
- Nicolas Faure Bourgogne Aligoté La Corvee de Bully 2014 March 11, 2022
- Domaine de Cassiopée Aligoté En Gerlieus 2020 March 10, 2022
- Nicolas Faure Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Herbues 2017 February 21, 2022
- Domaine Nicolas Faure Bourgogne Aligote La Corvees de Bully 2017 February 19, 2019
- Domaine Nicolas Faure, Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Herbues 2016 November 23, 2018
- Domaine Nicolas Faure Bourgogne Aligote La Corvees de Bully 2014 June 21, 2017
- Domaine Nicolas Faure Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Herbues 2015 June 21, 2017
- Domaine Nicolas Faure, Bourgogne Aux Argillieres 2014 October 11, 2016
- Domaine Nicolas Faure Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Herbues 2014 October 11, 2016
- Domaine Nicolas Faure Aloxe-Corton 2015 July 31, 2016
- Domaine Nicolas Faure Bourgogne Aux Argillieres 2015 July 31, 2016
- Domaine Nicolas Faure Coteaux Bourguignons Mes Gamay 2015 July 31, 2016
- Domaine Nicolas Faure Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Herbues 2015 July 31, 2016
- Domaine Nicolas Faure Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Herbues 2014 July 31, 2016
- Domaine Nicolas Faure Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Herbues 2012 July 31, 2016
- Domaine Nicolas Faure Bourgogne Aligote La Corvees de Bully 2014 July 31, 2016
- Domaine Nicolas Faure Bourgogne Aligote La Corvees de Bully 2015 July 30, 2016
- Domaine Nicolas Faure, Bourgogne Aux Argillieres 2014 June 23, 2016
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