2008 - Global Vintage

Ed_Gonzales · February 13, 2009, 12:59am

Dear fellow wine lovers,

2008 was very kind to me as it was my wedding year. I wanted to get your thoughts on the vintage in general. How was the vintage for Burgundy, Bordeaux, Rhone, Piedmont, etc.? I’m planning on buying several cases to hold for many years to enjoy with my beautiful and loving wife (and of course with friends here that I’ve met along the way)

Thank you in advance,

LMD_Ermitano · February 13, 2009, 1:07pm

For the Médoc, the weather of '08 was unkind, worse than 2007. It was unusually cold and would rain intermittently everyday I was there in June '07. At a dinner the night before Vinexpo 2007 kicked off, I was in a garden dinner party of a major negociant in the city, a thunderstorm broke out and it hailed sizeable hail stones. Though everyone there, mostly châteaux owners, tried to appear nonchalant, there was an unmistakeable tension. Cellphones were opened asking if the hail reached vineyards. I wasn’t in Bdx in 2008 (just attended the Vinexpo in HK), but my friends from the area said the weather was worse in 2008.

If I get to taste through the 2008s later this year, I’ll give you a shout on what looks promising. The upside is that you should be able to get wines at materially reduced prices. As for Burgundy, if I taste the '08s in Bdx, I’ll most likely also taste in Burgundy. Except for one trip, I always spend time in Burgundy when I am in France.

Ed_Gonzales · February 13, 2009, 3:29pm

LMD Ermitaño:

Ed Gonzales:

Dear fellow wine lovers,

2008 was very kind to me as it was my wedding year. I wanted to get your thoughts on the vintage in general. How was the vintage for Burgundy, Bordeaux, Rhone, Piedmont, etc.? I’m planning on buying several cases to hold for many years to enjoy with my beautiful and loving wife (and of course with friends here that I’ve met along the way)

Thank you in advance,

For the Médoc, the weather of '08 was unkind, worse than 2007. It was unusually cold and would rain intermittently everyday I was there in June '07. At a dinner the night before Vinexpo 2007 kicked off, I was in a garden dinner party of a major negociant in the city, a thunderstorm broke out and it hailed sizeable hail stones. Though everyone there, mostly châteaux owners, tried to appear nonchalant, there was an unmistakeable tension. Cellphones were opened asking if the hail reached vineyards. I wasn’t in Bdx in 2008 (just attended the Vinexpo in HK), but my friends from the area said the weather was worse in 2008.

If I get to taste through the 2008s later this year, I’ll give you a shout on what looks promising. The upside is that you should be able to get wines at materially reduced prices. As for Burgundy, if I taste the '08s in Bdx, I’ll most likely also taste in Burgundy. Except for one trip, I always spend time in Burgundy when I am in France.

Noel -

Thank you for the info. Looking forward to your thoughts on the 08 Bords and Burgs.

ouch regarding medoc…that’s a bummer…

Best,

Jorge_Henriquez · February 13, 2009, 3:41pm

Guess Port might be the salvation.

I’m keeping an eye on this thread as well as my daughter was born in December of 08.