One of the standout wines at the Burdigala tasting a couple of years ago, and for me one of the top wines of the vintage. I just saw some magnums for sale of impeccable provenance at a good price, and decided to open a bottle to see if it was as good as I remembered, and if so, buy the case.
To be honest, I prefer much older Bordeaux, so expecting something young and a little closed. What I got was a beauty, spice and fruit, a precursor of Graves aromatics and absolutely impeccable balance. Perhaps the most impressive characteristic was the extraordinary length of this wine. I immediately bought the case of magnums, and will probably start drinking this in ten years or so.
Agreed. All I expecting was to get maybe a sense of its quality, so I could make a decision on the case, but was very pleasantly surprised. There are some vintages like 1985 which may have had a closed period of about three and a half minutes, an d then stayed forever open, and then there are some like 1986, where the closed phase lasted several decades. With 2008 tending towards the more classic end of the continuum, I expected little, and was really happy with the result.
Nor am I mistaking openess for lightness and early maturity. This has plenty of structure and material in the wine, and I think should last quite well, at least long enough to see me off.
Thanks for sharing, I put my money in 2008 on Pontet Canet/SHL, but will keep a look out for this too, as there was really some first class claret produced in Pauillac/Graves in 2008 that got overshadowed/looked by 09/10.
Agree this is a really lovely wine. Perfect balance, as you observe, and more classically-scaled than the 2009 or 2010, despite not lacking for concentration or intensity.
Jay,
I have had the 2001 as part of a Haut Bailly vertical, but can’t find a note on it. I do remember thinking how strong all the post 2000 wines were, and slightly preferring the 2008 to both the (higher rated) 2009 and 2010. But unfortunately I never computerized the notes, and the book I recorded them went AWOL.
But it was the Burdigala tasting a couple of years later, and then the subsequent one where I tasted a bottle, when I realized how good the wine really was.