Auguste Rodin’s Le Baiser.
The first thing we noticed at Domaine Faiveley wasn’t a vineyard, but a Rodin.
In the courtyard of the family’s Nuits-Saint-Georges headquarters stands an original cast of Auguste Rodin’s Le Baiser, an unexpected sight at a Burgundy winery and an early clue that Faiveley sees wine as part of a larger cultural landscape.
The sculpture isn’t there simply for effect. Art has been intertwined with the family’s story for generations, and today it’s deliberately woven into the experience of visiting the winery.
That blend of heritage and forward thinking is characteristic of Faiveley.
The vineyard behind the winery in Côte de Nuits.
Founded in 1825 by Pierre Faiveley as a wine négociant, the business gradually acquired vineyards as successive generations expanded the family holdings. Two centuries later, the estate comprises approximately 127 hectares, making Faiveley one of Burgundy’s largest family-owned domaines, with vineyards extending from the Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune into the Côte Chalonnaise.
Domaine Faiveley.
The family continues its négociant activity, purchasing a limited amount of fruit in addition to farming its own vineyards. But its vineyard holdings are its foundation, including an exceptional collection of Premier and Grand Cru sites. Among them is the 2.7-hectare Corton Clos des Cortons Faiveley, a Grand Cru monopole acquired by the family in 1874.
Walking through the winery, the scale of the operation is immediately apparent. The historic Nuits-Saint-Georges building, dating to the 19th century and extensively renovated in 2018, houses the red wine production. Behind enormous panes of glass, rows of oak fermentation vats occupy a high-ceilinged room overlooking the vineyards. Below, the barrel cellar is equally impressive, with hundreds of barrels arranged in precise rows.
The barrel room.
The aesthetic is decidedly contemporary, but the family’s past is never far away. A dedicated room traces Faiveley’s development through photographs, documents and portraits, including images of some of the political and cultural figures who have visited the winery over the decades. The family’s relationship with art is particularly significant.
Maurice Fenaille, an important art collector and patron of Rodin, was the uncle of Marthe Faiveley, helping establish a connection that remains visible throughout the estate.
The tasting room.
The current generation has chosen to continue it. The tasting room occupies the top floor of the building, where a long communal table and sleek bar are accompanied by another Rodin sculpture. Faiveley also donates proceeds from its tasting and tour fees to the Musée Rodin and the Château du Clos de Vougeot.
The estate is changing in the vineyard, too. After beginning its conversion in 2022, Domaine Faiveley received organic certification in July 2025. For an estate covering 127 hectares across multiple appellations and subregions, the transition represents a substantial undertaking rather than a symbolic gesture. Soil health, biodiversity and reduced inputs now form part of the estate’s long-term farming strategy.
History in bottles.
The seventh generation has brought another significant change. Erwan Faiveley joined the family business in 2005, taking responsibility for the domaine at 25. His sister Eve joined in 2014, becoming the first woman from the family to work at the winery. The siblings now share responsibility for a business that has expanded well beyond its original Burgundy base.
A serious collection of back vintages.
That expansion includes the 2014 acquisition of Domaine Billaud-Simon in Chablis, and California’s Williams Selyem, where Faiveley became majority owner in 2024. The move into Sonoma County may seem geographically distant from Nuits-Saint-Georges, but it reflects a family increasingly willing to look beyond Burgundy while retaining its focus on vineyards and site.
The wines are ultimately an expression of that approach, and our tasting offered a revealing cross-section of the domaine’s holdings. Four wines, spanning the Côte de Nuits, Côte de Beaune and Côte Chalonnaise, provided a glimpse into both the range of the estate and the distinct character of the vineyards behind the labels.
Our tasting line up.
From Nuits-Saint-Georges and Volnay to Corton’s celebrated Grand Cru and Mercurey Chardonnay, the lineup covered considerable ground, geographically and stylistically.
What makes Domaine Faiveley particularly interesting today isn’t simply its history. Plenty of Burgundy estates have centuries of it. It’s the family’s willingness to build on that history: investing in organic farming, opening the winery to art, expanding beyond Burgundy and, giving the seventh generation room to define the next chapter.
Two centuries after Pierre Faiveley began as a négociant, the family is looking outward, while Burgundy remains at the centre of everything it does.
8 rue du Tribourg
21700 Nuits-Saint-Georges – France
T: + 33 (0)3 80 61 04 55
E: contact@domaine-faiveley.com
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