Issue:
January
2012
By Manos Angelakis
Grands Crus de Bordeaux, 2008 Vintage
To the Bordeaux aficionados that suffered through the dreadful 2007 vintage, take heart. We just tasted the 2008 wines and, even though there were no stellar surprises, I thought that the wines presented could be rated as being very, very good. In 2008, the Bordelais labored under a wet and depressing summer sky, but the weather improved later-on, saving the harvest. Erratic flowering was exacerbated by cool weather in August and early September. Extensive green harvesting was necessary to remove the fruit without a chance of ripening, reducing yields that were the lowest since 1991. Warm weather in September and October saved the vintage. Many harvests ran well into October with Sauternes estates still picking in November.
At the January 28th tasting there were a few individual producers whose wines were on the thin side because they decided to pick early, but in general, the 2008 vintage is no slouch, with wines that are dark, richer, more generous and a bit more tannic than 2007. It is an admirable vintage, with at least some first-rate wines from most appellations. The right bank has perhaps yielded more consistent success than the left this time around, but that is not to say that the Médoc is devoid of good wines. Indeed, a handful are breathtaking. The wines possess rich fruit, good acidity and, in some of the best examples, vibrant aromatics. The St. Julien and St. Émilion producers created some very successful wines, showing lots of sweet red fruit and firmer acidity. Margaux, Pomerol and St. Estéphe were a bit less exciting but still presented some very good bottles. This is a vintage that should be definitely tasted, before committing funds and cellar space to individual Bordelais vintners.
The sweet wines of Sauternes-Barsac were generally quite good, with some exceptional examples (for example Château Guiraud and Château Coutet), but not on par overall with the best recent vintages, such as 2005. Actually, the harvest was one of the latest in memory for Sauternes, but the grapes that were picked at the right time carried plenty of noble rot, assuring rich and spicy young sweet wines.
One thing is sure with the 2008 vintage: the quantities will be low, around 40% less wine, though the malaise of the market might leave négociants with large stocks of over-priced wines that will be a very hard sell, as there are still large amounts of the pedestrian 2006 and terrible 2007 vintages floating about.
To your health!
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