2006 Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru

With an assist from CEO/advisor Bernard Hervet, who formerly led the turnarounds at Bouchard and William Fevre for the Henriot family, Domaine Faiveley has radically upgraded its cooperage and its winemaking regime in just a few short years. The most recent key improvement here was the purchase of a vertical press and the introduction of oak vats for the fermentations. "We're now working in a more old-fashioned way, but with all of the modern technical controls," explained Hervet, who added that the chief objective of recent changes has been to avoid bitterness on the finishes of the wines and thus make them a bit less rustic in their youth without compromising their power, concentration or potential longevity. "Fifty percent of our problems just a few years ago were due to wood that wasn't dried long enough," he went on. "With 2007 we have no more bad cooperage." Hervet noted that 2007 has a different balance from that of 2006. "There are more tannins in the '06s but the skins were riper in 2007," he explained. "We may have been missing some tannins in '07, but the wines have good balance. When we saw the low levels of tannins we decided to put all the wines in new oak, but with a light toast." (Wilson-Daniels, St. Helena, CA) Also recommended: Volnay Santenots (86).

The last appointment of my November tour of Burgundy left me with a very good taste in my mouth, as the new team of Erwan Faiveley and CEO/advisor Bernard Hervet has a highly successful crop of '06s in the works-a set of wines that showcases a new direction for this firm. Among the most important recent developments here has been a radical change in barrel suppliers. "With 2006, there are no more Remond barrels," noted Hervet. "We felt that these barrels had accentuated the natural hardness of the wines here. Now we're avoiding the bitterness in the first phase of the wines," he said, adding that Francois Freres and Taransaud were now the main suppliers of barriques. Added Faiveley: "We have also stopped taking the solids from the vat and pumping them into the press. That gave our wines a bitterness from the seeds." According to Hervet, it wasn't possible to have overmature grapes in 2006, and thus the vintage is perfect for people who don't like to make-or to drink-"exaggerated wines."