2008 Red Burgundy Check In

In the vein of the 2006 thread 2006 Red Burgundy: how are they doing? - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers, what are folks thoughts, notes on 2008 red burgs?

I ask as I’ve seen some good pricing lately on wines from the vintage, in some cases discounted on the 2007ish level. I play in the Village/1er Cru sandbox as opposed to Grand Cru fwiw so these deals might not be as frequently seen up the hierarchy or more difficult to source producers.

But I found it surprising b/c I personally found 2008s early on very approachable, if in some cases slightly acidic, perhaps a foursquare vintage for Burgundy but not a sub-par vintage. It lacks the rich fruit of 2009, the polish and completeness of 2010, but I like the vintage personally.

I was able to reload on 08 Dujac MSD and will post a note soon when I pull a cork, in addition to an 08 Voillot Champans.

Some others I’ve checked in on recently, your thoughts on the vintage or recent wines?

2008 Chandon de Briailles Les Vergelesses - Great value for $32. Stemmy nose, with mineral, rose petal and red fruit notes. Very traditionally ‘styled.’ Not sure how long to age this, I’d drink sooner (5 years?) than later. Stunner, no? Tasty, yes. (April 2015)

2008 Bize Aux Vergelesses - This is really refined and polished Savigny that retains enough bramble/savory rusticity that I associate with the best producers like JM Pavelot and Ecard (old stuff). Not sure the critical notes are accurate, while this has the legs to last, it drinks swell right now. (April 2013)

2008 Domaine Dujac MSD - Without question a pup, but still enjoyable scents of cherry vanillin, brown spices and some earth tones. Medium weight in the mouth, I can see this taking on some nice weight with age. Great (young) juice. (March 2011)

2008 Jadot Ursules - This has changed for the better in just a year. The highlight is this woodsy/sous bois/savory note on the mid-palate that clings to your mouth. Yes there’s a little oak poking through but for a baby, this is drinking quite well. This should be very special and truffley in 15-20 years. (march 2012)

2008 Jadot Ursules - Blue fruits and oak on the nose, but it’s a very young wine and I think with time it will be something special. Lots of fruit/complexity lying beneath the primary layer. (January 2011)

2008 JM Pavelot Les Verglesses - Haunting aromas of truffles, dark cherry liqueur and strawberry twizzlers and funk. Plenty of life left, very savory on the palate with tannins cinching at the end. Check back in around 2018. Could be a beauty in the vein of Ecard. (April 2015)

2008 JM Pavelot SLB Gravains - Pop and pour, the ripe red fruits remind me of a 2009 burgundy - but the zippy acids manage to lift up the fruit and keep it elegant, rather than cumbersome. I’d never peg this as a SLB, there’s nothing rustic here - even the tannin seems CdN refined. In a way, I kind of wish it had more of that rugged Pavelot character - we’ll see where this winds up with time in bottle. (November 2011)

Love this vintage to no end. Thanks for starting this thread, Peter; I’ll be watching with interest.

I think 08s are great. Very pure bright red fruit. I think Dujac crushed it in 08 (more pure, bright, and red fruited than 06).

08 Bertheau Chambolle and Chambolle 1er are showing some bricking and advanced profile that makes them delicious drinking now.

But the GCs are very much shut down hard right now. Won’t be opening them for a while.

3x2008’s from the past 6 months.

2008 Meo-Camuzet Vosne-Romanee ‘Cros Parantoux’ 1er Cru: The only wine of the night where the oak was noticeable. There was some vitamin b like oak just hanging off the fruit a bit. It had dense black cherry fruit and some dried flower perfume along with plenty of mineral. It was tight and ungiving in the mouth with the acidic mineral flick to the finish that many 08’s possess.

2008 Mongeard-Mugneret Vosne-Romanee: Starts off showing a bit of gingerbread and cedar from the oak. There are brown spice notes along with crisp cherry fruit. It gains sweetness at its heart with air and has some pleasant floral nuance. The finish has a lick of tart cherry and mineral.

2008 Sylvain Cathiard Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Aux Murgers: The nose is so bright and punchy with notes of red jubey fruits and floral spice. In the mouth flavours ping around the gums thanks to electric, minerally acidity. It gains sweet, cherry flesh from its heart with air and whilst behaving like a wine that is far too young was most enjoyable.

anyone else have concerns that 2008 will enter into a 1996-like slumber at some point? i don’t anymore, but i know many do.

Every time I have a bottle that makes me worry about that, I have one that doesn’t. The most recent being a 08 Ponsot Clos Vougeot VV which was absolutely stunning. Granted, that bottle didn’t seem to capture the very pretty and light red fruit that I associate with the vintage, but it was a fantastic wine.

I am afraid that in the long run, some 08s may dry out leaving naught but a husk. But what do I know?

08 mugneret-gibourg nsg chaignots from a half bottle last week was simply splendid. Again, didn’t match the vintage profile at all of bright red fruit with borderline screechy acidity. This was dark fruited, spicy, seamlessly elegant and absolutely irresistible.

2008 fourrier gevrey vv was very meh a few nights ago. it took on some weight with air. very attenuated and lean.

So glad you posted this. I’m sitting on a couple of these and was thinking of opening one in the very near future to see what it was offering but think I’ll hold off awhile longer.

08 VV has been grumpy for a few years. If you have 07, try that one.

Had a 2008 Arlot Clos Foret a month ago that was quite excellent.

That wine was delicious (and cheap!) on release. Hopefully it is merely awkward now and has not declined.

based on this bottle, i wouldn’t hold out too much hope, unfortunately. i’d crack one if you have more than a few and decant for an hour. see what you think.

Do you guys find that the leaner/lighter wines gain depth/interest/weight with air?

It was the hardness of the fourrier 08s in the EP tastings, in particular, that initially turned me off the 08s so much.

Interesting as I haven’t run into that characteristic in any 08s, either early on or lately. You sure it wasn’t a Gouges

Interesting. I’ve enjoyed the 3 '08 Fourriers I’ve tried, albeit to varying degrees.

I liked the MSD Clos Salon V.V., but didn’t love it, when I tasted in '11. (89pts) It came across as tight, and healthy decanting didn’t do much for it.

I liked the Gevrey-Chambertin V.V. a bit more (90pts), but held out hope that time would help it improve (Yaacov’s note is worrisome regarding this matter, to say the least). It was incredibly acidic.

And I love the Cherbaudes 1er (94+).

recently opened a Chevillion NSG Les Perrieres that was very good- needed about 1 hour in a decanter to show it’s stuff.

Definitely the fourriers. I’m a huge fourrier fan and was really taken aback at how screechy and hard these were.

Honestly, almost all the '08’s at the London EP were terrifying, Fourrier included. I think many / most hadn’t even finished malo.

'08 and '09 EP taught me not to completely trust my own palate with regards to EP Burgundy. It is smarter trust that producers who made good wine in similar past vintages would make good wine again. Seriously, I was aghast at both EP seasons. I thought '08 was shreeky-acidic, and virtually undrinkable, and I thought '09 was so plump it was practically California. Time has proven me wrong, and wrong again.

The other region that I completely mis-trust my ability to barrel taste is Piemonte Nebbiolo. I just can’t get past the tannins to pass judgement and predict the future. Someday, maybe.