My friend was the organiser of this offline. I supplied only one wine. All wines were tasted and rated blind before discussion. Tasted initially without food and later with appropriately matched dishes. Champagne
2008 Vilmart Coeur de Cuvee
Intense, rich flavoured champagne that is nice to drink now but it has good acidity and balance to ensure a good ageing capability. Loved it.
Whites
2008 Raveneau Les Clos
2008 Christian Moreau Les Hospices Les Clos
Raveneau was linear, cleaner, and intense. Lovely wine with ages to go. Favourite wine of the bracket by all. The Christian Moreau looked a bit herbal and more exotic. Although, I liked it, this wine did not have many fans on the day.
Red Bracket #1
2008 Hudelot Noellat Romanee St Vivant (1)
2008 Mugneret-Gibourg Echezeaux (2)
2008 Mugnier Bonnes Mares (3)
2008 Domaine Leroy Vosne Romanee Les Brulees (4)
2008 Comte de Vogue Bonnes Mares (5)
The top three wines were beautiful and there was a bit of gap between them and the last two. Hudelot Noellat Romanee St Vivant was spicy and rolled over the tongue with extreme grace. It was well rounded and it had enough fruit to buffer and cover the terrific acidity underneath. Mugneret-Gibourg Echezeaux was another lovely wine that had a lot of depth and complexity. It had terrific persistence on the palate. The Mugnier was the lightest wine of the night (polar opposite to the Leroy). It was ethereal and danced on the palate. It looked as if it had more of a Mugnier signature to it than depiction of the vineyard. Some felt that would have liked a bit more fruit showing whereas others loved its more delicate style. Leroy unfortunately did not show well. Looked a bit herbal and extracted at the same time. May be the whole bunch style did not favour the vintage. Some thought there was a spritzy character to it. The Comte de Vogue Bonnes Mares looked very oaky. There was a lot of fruit underneath but it looked a bit coarse and bit overworked. While it sat in the glass (30-40 minutes) it improved a bit so there is some hope that with age the oak and fruit might integrate and the wine might look better than its current showing. (FWIW, the 2008 de vogue Musigny I had two years ago looked very good).
This bracket looked more backward than the previous one. Wines looked a bit angular and the acidity was more apparent with lot of fruit coiled up (rather than in the forefront). This was particularly true of the Armand Roussseau Clos de Beze which showed enormous depth and intensity but still very young and demanding significant bottle age. As it sat in the glass it opened up a bit to show glimpse of greatness. Comparing the two Ruchottes was side by side was an interesting exercise. There was a slight preference for Rousseau as it looked more complete and engaging. It was lifted and also floral but with a lot of earthy and underpinning. The Mugneret-Gibourg Ruchottes was no slouch and was admired for its poise and charm but it looked a bit less intense and did not have the layers of depth that the Rousseau possessed. The Marchand Freres Clos de la Roche looked a bit simple and out of place in this line up. Tasted on its own it may be it would have fared better. I normally have a soft spot for Odoul Coquard but today the wine was completely out classed by the top three.
Overall, this tasting reinforces my notion that at the top end the 2008 has done exceedingly well. There is marriage of vibrant fruit from the splendid acid and good depth from perfectly ripened fruit.
I’m sitting on a bunch of ‘08s — some of the wines you tasted. And to be honest I’m a bit unsettled about them.
A facile take is that they are a bit of a ‘96 redux — acid freaks!
But some recent sampling of some GC 96s has me believing they may have turned a corner. I’m thinking the 08s can come around similarly once all that dense sinewy fruit gets unpacked.
Matthew, this is amusing because we are reversed on this. I have bunch of 08s also and I am less concerned about them than I am about the 96s. Mostly because 96 has had its 20 year chance to resolve in the bottle while the
08 has not.
I’ll continue to buy 08s at the right price but I’m done buying 96 for now.
I think ‘08 is a sleeper. Good thing. Last vintage my wallet could handle.
I have had the very good fortune to have had the ‘08 Vogue Bonnes Mares on a few occasions over the years and I think I still have 1-2 for which I am thankful. Sounds like you had a disappointing bottle. My experiences have been not only uniformly positive but the wine has been at the upper echelons of Bonnes Mares I have had. When I started reading I assumed the 3 wines in the flight that showed well included the Vogue. I was shocked to tad How your experience turned out given my relatively heavy experience with it. I’m saddened for you because I think you had some sort of weirdly off bottle. Would have enjoyed being there.
2008 Burgundy is clearly a vintage for acid lovers. OTOH, 2009 is a contrasting warm opulent style which contrasts to the 2008 vintage. At the top level I think the vintage is excellent and I won’t have any hesitation.
When the wines were unblinded this was a shock. I am glad that your win looked good. That may be just bottle variability or some other factor. Hence, I put in the rider that I had an excellent 2008 de Vogue Musigny and there is some hope that another bottle this wine may potentially look good as there was some improvement as the wine sat in the glass.
I’ve had good experiences with 2008 - specifically Dujac - their portfolio of wines were phenomenal in 2008! I would continue to buy at the right price without hesitation.
Interesting you found the Vogue Bonnes Mares oaky, while enjoying the Musigny recently. I’ve generally felt the Musigny has a lot more new oak that requires age to integrate, whereas the Bonnes Mares is ready sooner (from an oak perspective).
Thanks for the notes. Due to my frustration with ‘96 vintage, ‘08 is not a vintage that I favor but three months ago, I had a knee-bending good ‘08 Roty Charmes Chambertin, probably the best Charmes Chambertin ever tasted.
On the side note, ‘07 Vogue Bonnes Mares was the star of our ‘07 tasting last month.
Thanks, Sanjay,
Very helpful and interesting notes! I, too, have a bunch of '08, virtually none of which I have cracked. I also think the ‘96’s are starting to come around (a Laurent Bonnes Mares was extraordinary 6 months back and a Jadot CSJ showed nicely after 2 hours of air–it’s Richebourg, not so much, way too young.)
I was a little surprised that the Rousseau Ruchottes showed better than the sisters’, which I have loved the few times I have had (not the '08), but then haven’t tasted that much of either.
Thanks again!
My Note from back then: 2008 Very vibrant. Fresh acidity intermingled with well delineated fruit. Pure. Refined. Great. Bit aniseed. Licorice. It has the fruit intensity to counter the terrific acid spine. Try again in a decade.
Perhaps the oak was a bit better integrated in the Musigny. After all its just one snap shot. We will have to see how things pan out in a decade or so.
The Rousseau Ruchottes is a very elegant wine and perhaps it does not have much oak influence it tends show better earlier than the top three. It does not get as much admiration as it it deserves.
A propos the 1996s, i’ve had a lot of luck with wines of the better producers recently. Lignier Morey 1er cru VV, serafin charmes and fonteny, and clos de tart were all absolutely singing in the last couple of months.
While on the 2008 theme, I opened a 2008 Joseph Voillot Pommard Les Epenots (13% alc) today. Its a lovely wine. Delicious. Elegant wine keeping with the Voillot profile. There is beautiful florals and not too earthy but sensual palate which is intense yet quite light. And as expected buffered with lots of acidity that gives it a lot of energy.