2008 Burgundy
RATING FOR THE VINTAGE Red: 16.0 White: 16.0
SIZE OF THE CROP
RED WHITE
Grands Crus 11529 3784
Village and Premiers Crus 160492 64591
Total 172021 68375
Grand Total 240396
Up-date December 2009
There are vintages which somehow never manage to live up to early expectations. Happily there have been few of these in recent memory. What has happened, quite frequently, is the reverse: years where if one extrapolated from the weather conditions or the growers' initial pessimistic fears one would tend to expect the worst, but in fact after the wines had settled down in cask and finished their malos, and even more after they had had a few months to repose after bottling, one said with no lack of surprise: 'Well, these are not bad at all'.
Such is 2008. As far down the line as Monday, September 15th., the day the harvest began some two weeks late in the Beaujolais, the auguries were unpromising. Burgundy seemed to be doomed. Then the miracle occured, the wind changed to the north, and the fruit was able to concentrate. It was warm and sunny, with cool nights to lessen the threat of rot. The sugars rose. The acidities fell, but not as proportionately fast. Saved by the bell! But there was nevertheless no shortage of sub-standard fruit which would have to be cut out. Given an already small crop and looming world depression how conscientious could the vignerons afford to be? A year on we have the answer, and it is positive. Two thousand and eight is a small vintage but it is better than both 2007, and in both colours. It should not be neglected.
A brief summary of the weather conditions:
Up to the middle of June, when the moon was full on the 18th., the season had been cool, wet and miserable. The flowering was late and drawn out, promising a late and uneven harvest. The next six weeks happily saw a marked inprovement: plenty of sun, not too much rain – and what there was was sporadic and localised – though it was warm rather than hot. Temperatures rarely exceeded 30°C. Then the weather deteriorated. There was more rain and less sun right through to mid-September. A bleak summer indeed! Overall there was less precipitation on the Côte de Nuits than the Côte de Beaune, and less still in the Côte Chalonnaise. Chablis seems to have enjoyed the mildest weather of all. But inevitably, the incidence of mildew, oidium and botrytis became ever more serious as the weeks progressed. At various times from the beginning of May onwards, hail damaged the vineyards of Marsannay, Volnay and Meursault, Chassagne and parts of the southern Màconnais and northern Beaujolais.
At the last minute, however, more benign conditions returned and continued well into October. The harvest kicked off in the Beaujolais, as I have said, on September 15th. A week or more later the growers began to attack the Mâconnais and to some extent the Côte de Beaune. But many in the Côte d'Or held off until Monday 29th or even, in the Côte de Nuits, into October, and were able to profit from natural sugar levels of 13° and higher. It was the latest harvest for some years, requiring 110 or more, not 100, days from flowering to fruition. And, yes, a severe tri was essential, but in fact there was less to cut out than there had been 12 months previously.
The 2008s have not been easy wines to taste. There was, as you might expect, a lot of malic acidity, and the malo-lactic fermentations have been slow to complete. Even in October, twelve months on, many wines had not yet finished their malos. Others, not yet racked, were still full of gas. On the plus side, however, the red wines have good healthy colours, the tannins are unexpectedly sophisticated, and there is good terroir definition. They have more substance than 2007, better tannins and grip than 2006, and very good fruit, especially for those who like their wines to have a bit of bite. The highish acidities – but as Michel Gros pointed out: after the malos had finished he found his wines only a very little higher in acid than normal - will ensure the wines keep well. The Côte de Nuits has produced better wine than the Côte de Beaune, but to a less marked degree than 2006 and 2007. Two-thousand and eight is one of the best of recent vintages in the Côte Chalonnaise.
The whites, too, have taken time to show their character. Not only did they have the high amounts of malic acidity as did the red wines, but in some cellers the wines took until July completely to finish their sugar-alcohol fermentations. I found them a bit dense and featureless at first. But they have turned out to have good definition, more structure than both 2006 and 2007, good grip and no lack of depth. Many agree that even Côte de Beaune village wines will need more time than usual in cask before bottling. There are very good wines at the lower levels from the Mâconnais upwards. But 2008 is not proportionately as good in white than it is in red. Two thousand and six is to be preferred.
This is truly a splendid vintage in Chablis. As one respected merchant said to me over his grands crus: 'If the 2009s are better than this I shall be very surprised.'
The Market
We are now beginning to get some information on prices. An early indication from merchants Drouhin, as I reported in Octber, and which has been substantiated since at other addresses, was that here and there there would be a small decrease (in euros). The trouble is, as one grower pointed out, that if you reduce prices people think the wines are inferior. Well, I thought, are we really as stupid as this? This grower will charge the same as he has done every vintage since 2005, as will others, while a few, who are 're-positioning' themselves, have slightly increased their demands. The net effect, to the UK or US consumer; is one of more or less stability. Given a much superior 2009 vintage lurking round the corner, I feel this is the least Burgundy can do. The current market – for 2007s – is very quiet, and has been for 12 months. If the Burgundians want to shift their 2008s (and there is still quite a stock of unsold 2007) concessions, perhaps a nod and a wink that buyers now will be rewarded some way when the 2009s come on the market, need to be made. The cynic in me says the growers will be able to make back any offer on the 2008s when they come to price the 2009s.
The Wines
I began my autumn visits in Gevrey-Chambertin, as Decanter had commissioned me to write a piece on Chambertin and Clos de Bèze. I then moved on to the major merchants, as most have vines in these two Gevrey climats, which thereby gave me an over-view of the entire Côte d'Or, and then started working my way up the vineyard area from Santenay northwards. Readers will know by now that I no longer have the energy to taste 10 hours a day five or six days a week - it is more like two days a week and four visits per day these days. So what follows does not claim to be comprehensive . But what I have not failed to do is to follow up suggestions from others of new kids on the block and changes for the better. This is one of the most pleasant parts of the job: the continual discovery. After all, you don't need me to tell you that the wines of the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti are very fine (and the 2008s here are by the way), but where I can be useful is to point out some potential star before he or she becomes a vinous household name.
Let me begin with the reds. What is surprising is their lack of the sort of hard, lean, green character to the tannins that one expects in these 'saved at the last minute' vintages. In fact the tannins are really quite soft. The acidities are not elevated, alcoholic degrees are more than adequate, and the fruit is fresh and reasonably concentrated. This will lead to wines with no lack of charm, which will evolve in the medium term.
There is a minerality about the 2008s which I find appealing. Less terroir definition than in the 2007s, perhaps, but more homogeneity, both geographically and hierarchically, and with more personality. Because of the late malos, they will be bottled later rather than sooner, but nevertheless should not be held too long in cask.
Up in Gevrey I tasted well, despite this being at the beginning of my trip, in September, and with numbers of wines not through their malos. I admired the wines of Jean-Louis Trapet, his cousins Nicolas and David at Rossignol-Trapet, Drouhin-Laroze, Pierre Damoy - who is now producing a small cuvée of old vine Clos de Bèze - 'not better, but different', as he puts it – and particularly at Rousseau and further north chez Bruno Clair in Marsannay. What is interesting, but is more part of the 2009 story, is a movement (?back) towards vinifying with some or all of the stems in the top wines.
For the first time I visited the 4 hectare Domaine Marc Roy in Gevrey-Chambertin. This small estate has been run since 2003 by daughter Alexandrine, and offers only village wine: Clos Prieur, a Vieilles Vignes Cuvée, and, from 2007, Cuvée Alexandrine, four barrel's worth. 'I wanted to prove you could make wine of grand cru quality from village land if you selected properly', says Alexandrine. Well, I'm not quite sure I'd go that far, but the 2008 is certainly very impressive, as is, at a lower level, the 2007.
From the Domaine Roy to Morey-Saint-Denis is but a step. Many years ago I used to call on Georges Bryczek , an old man with died black hair of Polish extraction. A very devout Catholic, he had managed to persuade Pope Jean-Paul II to accept a case of his premier cru . Bryczek's cave was crammed full of Madonnas, votive candles, Christmas tree lights and his own paintings (not very good, I'm afraid). The wine was unimpressive, and after a few years I stopped visiting.
Then I had an e-mail. It's now the grandson, 31 year old Christophe. And the quality merits a re-visit. It did. It was father Edouard who started changing things round in the mid-1980s, apparently. I found the 2008s rich and succulent, perhaps soft-centered, but elegant. And the 2007s are very good too. The premier cru is still called Cuvée Jean-Paul II and not Chenevery. But who's heard of Chenevery anyway? And Grandfather Georges is still with us. He's 94. The estate does not export.
Following, more or less, my autumn programme, I turn to the merchants – or at least to the wines from the merchant's own domaines. There are plenty of fine wines chez Faiveley, and it was here that I got first sight of the excellence of the 2008 Chablis vintage. The offerings of Albert Bichot were a mixed bag, rather more exciting from their own Domaines de Pavillon, for the Côte de Beaune, and Clos Frantin in the Côte de Nuits, than those bought in from elsewhere. Drouhin now mature their top Chablis in double-sized casks, recent rather than new, which is perhaps the ideal solution: lots of impressive wines in both colours. A new address to me was Seguin-Manuel in Beaune, founded in 2004 by Thibaut Marion of the family which used to own Chanson: a limited range of Côte de Beaunes: some very good.
Jacques Lardière of Jadot is happier with the red 2008s – where there are 'some great wines' – than with the whites. And as far as his are concerened there were some which lacked intensity. But from the Savigny-Lès-Beaune, Clos des Guettes onwards there were some lovely reds. David Croix of Maison Camille Giroud admires the crisp purity of the fruit of the 2008 reds, and showed a number of fine wines. Two thousand and eight 'was not a year for the stems', he said. At Bouchard Père et Fils, as elsewhere, you could see the effect of the hail in the Volnays. By comarison the Pommards are rather more impressive. But apart from this a lovely range of wines.
Finally to Franck Grux of Olivier Leflaive Frères, whose 2008 vintage continued until October 18th. Here I sampled just the whites. Firstly an impressive range of Chablis, then some fine Côte Chalonnaise wines, followed by the Côte de Beaunes. Sometimes in past vintages I have found Franck Grux's wines, while elegant and pure, a little ephemeral, lacking the staying power for long-term keeping. Not so the 2008s. Full marks.
Back to the domaines. High class in Vosne-Romanée chez Sylvain Cathiard, Michel Gros, Etienne Grivot, the Domaines Eugenie and Romanée-Conti, as you would expect. But I was less overwhelmed at Leroy. And yet it was a fruit day, and a full moon. Lalou Bize prefers her 2006s.
In Nuits-Saint-Georges I called on Daniel Bocquenet after an absence of some years. He's another, like Alfred Haegelen (see News), who has no interested successors, and will probably lease off his 5 hectare estate – 40 ares of Echézaeux, but otherwise only village wine – after the 2011 vintage. His wines are healthy, ripe, plump and concentrated. I don't know why I stopped calling.
The best four domaines in the Savigny/Beaune area are those of Chandon de Briailles, Patrick Bize, Jean-Marc and Hugues Pavelot, and David Croix. Lovely wines throughout, indicating that whatever the difficulties in Volnay, here a few kilometers to the north, 2008 has no lack of success. But you could say the same for the wines at de Montille and Nicolas Jeanniard in the village itself.
Which brings me to the white wines. I tasted quite extensively in Chassagne, which I had all but ignored in 2007, as I did not like the vintage here, in Saint-Aubin, Puligny and in Meursault – as well as in Santenay (very good wines chez Roger Belland, where it is his daughter, the 31 year old Julie, who is responsible in the cellar now, and chez Anne-Marie and Jean-Marc Vincent - and I do not share – or share to a lesser extent – the slight pessimism I have heard elsewhere. Not everything is brilliant but there is plenty of fine stuff; and I am inclined to prefer 2008 to 2007. We'll see. Meanwhile I visited two recently extablished domaines for the first time: Sebastian Magnien in Meursault and Sylvain Bzikot in Puligny. Nice men: very good wines. Domaines worth persuing.