2009 Château Faugères Cuvée Speciale Peby Peby Faugères
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Tasting notes
The opposite of the backward, classically styled, inward 2010, the 2009 Peby Faugeres is an extroverted, hedonistic, sexpot of a wine that delivers just about everything you could want from a bottle of wine. It too is inky colored and offers a heavenly perfume of blueberries, cassis, scorched earth, incense, licorice and hints of flowers. It’s a massive, full-bodied, opulent wine, yet stays light and graceful on the palate, with a weightless feel, which is even more remarkable given its incredible concentration, extract, tannic structure, and length. It’s a joy to drink today (in a youthful sort of way) but has another two to three decades of prime drinking. Bravo! This cuvee from Swiss owner Silvio Denz comes from a 7.45-hectare portion of the Faugères vineyard, which lies on the eastern edge of Saint-Emilion, on the Saint-Emilion/Castillon border. The parcel is mostly older vines and is a unique southeast facing slopes of brown limestone soils. It’s worth mentioning that Jean-Luc Thunevin’s blockbuster Valandraud cuvee comes from a site not far from here and this sensational wine is made with guidance from Stephan von Neipperg for the viticulture and famed consultant Michel Rolland for the winemaking. All these of these wines reviewed here are beautiful.
Critic scores
James Suckling
Wine Spectator
More reviews and scores
Exotic aromas of crushed berries, toasted oak, vanilla bean. Full-bodied, with a wonderful depth of fruit and ultra-velvety tannins. This is very intense and fruity in style. It really impresses you with its richness. Pure Merlot. Slightly New World.
The Peby Faugeres comes from a sector of Faugeres of over 20 acres where the vines are 45 years of age on average. In 2009 the yields were only 18 hectoliters per hectare. This 100% Merlot cuvee was impressive from barrel but is even more remarkable from bottle. One of the superstars of the vintage, this dense, opaque purple wine displays notes of blueberry liqueur intermixed with graphite, pen ink, licorice, incense and white flowers. Deep and full-bodied, with a boatload of tannin and glycerin as well as incredible texture and length, this is a wine of first-growth quality from St.-Emilion that should be cellared for a good 7-8 years, and then drunk over the following 25-30. It finished at around 15% natural alcohol and there are about 1,000 cases of it.