Recently I've had several customers asking about ready to drink back-vintage red Burgundies.  These prized wines are made in such tiny quantities, that when we get them in, they don't last long.   So being a "Burg-head" myself, I was none too pleased to deliver on my clients' requests so I scoured our suppliers lists in search of ready to drink Burgs.

After combing the lists I stumbled upon two Grand Cru's by one of my favorite producers, Domaine Faiveley.  They were from the excellent '02 vintage, which was THE vintage that sold me on Burgundy. Even better, they were listing pristine, original wood cases and 10 of each! Burgundy lovers know production is super-low on these wines and it's almost impossible to find back-vintage Burgundy in case quantities. Immediately we knew we had to jump on these, but as with all the wines we carry, we must taste before selling. We flew two bottles over. One was the 2002 Faiveley Corton Clos des Corton, and the other bottle was 2002 Faiveley Latricieres Chambertin.  Upon arriving to our warehouse we popped the corks and decanted for an hour or two. 

Here are our notes from the Sokolin tasting panel on both:

2002 Faiveley Corton Clos des Cortons
"Stewed fruit, menthol, honey dew on the nose. Rustic and very earthy in the mouth with plenty of tannins and a nice core of fruit. Very well balanced and though drinking great now may be even better in a year or two."

2002 Faiveley Latricieres Chambertin
"Bright red fruit, cinnamon with hints of spice. Juicier than the Corton and drinking better at the moment.  Dusty tannins suggest plenty of life left in this beauty!"

After the tasting we decided to do a little research and see what the so called experts were saying.  Usually when dealing with Burgundy we tend to stick with Allen Meadows' Burghound or another favorite source, Clive Cotes.  There wasn't much information from Burghound but in Clive Cotes newest book he gave great scores to both wines! A 19/20 on the  Latricieres & 18/20 for the Corton Clos des Corton.  Needless to say everyone was sold on these beautiful '02's and we scooped up as much as we could get.  Hopefully everyone is on our daily email list and had an opportunity to secure a case or two of each.  If not, then get signed up for our emails and stay tuned for more back-vintage red Burgundy deals!