En Primeur offers

Our En Primeur up-date contains a plethora of exciting wines; some iconic, some eccentric, but all worthy of your consideration. Not one of these wines would feature if they were anything less than excitingly excellent.

There are several very good reasons to buy your ‘cellaring’ wines en primeur. First of all, it ensures you get what you want before it runs out; secondly that you purchase them at an opening and therefore advantageous price, thirdly you know precisely their provenance, and finally, the funding of en primeur tends to come out of a different, and ‘Very Important’ account which has nothing to do with the house keeping purse…

Rob Chase
Fine Wine Manager

 

Bordeaux 2009

The 2009 vintage in Bordeaux presented us with some great wines. A wet winter, followed by a fine spring (albeit with occasional storms), and an extended hot, dry summer provided perfect conditions for many châteaux. We encountered peaks as well as troughs in our tasting travels, but these wines deliver both great value and excellent medium term drinking potential. If you would like a copy of our vintage report, please let me know. The following will be shipped in either mid/ late 2011 (juniors) or early 2012 (seniors), when Duty, VAT and delivery will be charged.
 

Bordeaux
2009 Château Les Rosiers, Bordeaux
2009 Pezat, Bordeaux Superieur
Right Bank
2009 Château Caillou Les Martins, Lussac St Emilion
2009 Château Le Doyenné, 1er Côtes de Bordeaux
2009 Château Perron, Lalande de Pomerol
2009 Château Cardinale-Villemaurine, Grand Cru St Emilion
2009 Château Côte Montpezat, Côtes de Castillon
2009 Château Teyssier, St Emilion Grand Cru
Left Bank
2009 Château l’Argenteyre, Médoc
2009 Château d’Aurilhac, Haut-Médoc
2009 Château La Tour de By, Médoc
2009 Château Mille Roses, Margaux
2009 Château Bernadotte, Haut-Médoc
2009 Château du Glana, St Julien
2009 Les Fiefs de Lagrange, St Julien
2009 Château Lacoste-Borie, Pauillac
2009 Château Lalande-Borie, St Julien
2009 Château Chasse-Spleen, Moulis-en-Médoc
2009 Château Haut-Batailley, 5ème Cru Classé, Pauillac
2009 Réserve de la Comtesse, Pauillac
2009 Les Pagodes de Cos, St Estèphe
2009 Alter Ego de Palmer, Margaux
2009 Clos du Marquis, St Julien 
2009 Château Langoa Barton, 3ème Cru Classé, St Julien
2009 Château Léoville Barton, 2ème Cru Classé, St Julien
2009 Château Palmer, 2ème Cru Classé, Margaux
 

2009 Château Les Rosiers, Bordeaux
Patrick Jolivet produces this simple but charming, entry-level claret.  Grown on a clayey plateau with limestone, in the heart of Entre Deux Mers, in the unpronounceable village of Cazaugitat where the enthusiastic Patrick has his 37 hectares. His red variety plantings are 70% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc. As this is area is famous for its whites, he also owns decent Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon plantings too.  It is highly unlikely that you will find a better, inexpensive claret of such quaffability as this. The excellent ripeness of fruit is well balanced by wrap around, silky tannins. Drink from 2011 – 2014.

2009 Pezat, Bordeaux Superieur
“A big time sleeper of the vintage from the portfolio of Englishman Jonathan Maltus, this exuberant, richly fruity 2009 is a blend of 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc. It is exactly what the market is demanding ... a lush, heady, classic Bordeaux with plenty of spice box, black cherry fruit, and mocha offered in a fleshy, succulent style. It should be consumed over the next 3-4 years.” Robert Parker.  We discovered this wine and sold the 2005 En Primeur very successfully. I would add another year to the drinking window. 2012 – 2015.

Right Bank

2009 Château Caillou Les Martins, Lussac St Emilion
Eight hectares owned by Jean-François Carrille (see also Cardinale-Villemaurine) in this ‘satellite’ commune on the north east flank of the St Emilion appellation, about 6 miles from the town of St Emilion. The predominantly Merlot vineyards are planted on limestone and ferruginous clay; average age of the vines is a relatively spritely 20 years old. 70% of the wine will be aged for around 18 months in one vintage-old barriques, so the ripe tannins are further ameliorated and enhanced. This is an out-and-out Right Bank wine with all its attendant plumy red fruit styling, with the added benefits of a great vintage.  Drink from 2013 - 2016

2009 Château Le Doyenné, 1er Côtes de Bordeaux
The eight hectares (19 acres) of vineyard are planted on slopes over-looking the Garonne, which has a major, steadying influence on their micro-climate. The estate was bought in 1994 by Marie-Dominique and Jean Watrin, who promptly set about restructuring the vineyards and rebuilding the winery. The wines are aged in oak (1/3rd new) for between 12 and 16 months.  Although the vineyards are planted to 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Cabernet Franc, the 2009 has around 85% Merlot – which is highlighted by lovely, defining freshness and an all-embracing sweet ripeness. A further 12 months in oak will produce a wine of elegance and substance for drinking from 2015 - 2019.

2009 Château Perron, Lalande de Pomerol
This Right Bank estate is currently in the very capable hands of Bertrand Massonie – who is the third generation of the family to run it. Fifteen hectares on sandy gravel top-soil over ferruginous sub-soil planted to 80% Merlot and 10% of both Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Minimal use of chemicals (lutte raisonée), unrivalled attention to detail in the vineyards and hand picked grapes contribute towards the quality here.  30% new oak will round out this wine to perfection, and I envisage this in 8 years time as being the perfect bottle to be enjoyed with roast lamb. It will evolve into a delightfully ‘grown-up’ claret, with its combined red and black fruit attributes and some attractive tobacco leaf tones. Very good. Drink from 2017 – 2022.    

2009 Château Cardinale-Villemaurine, Grand Cru St Emilion
Owned by Vignobles Jean François Carrille, this is by anyone’s standards, an ancient estate, able to trace its roots back to 732. The blend of 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc set this apart at tasting, showing plenty of red fruit and subtlety – very St Emilion. The seven hectares of vines are spread over five very diverse parcels of land, each with its own specific character, adding to the wines complexity. The use of 40% new oak and 60% of one vintage old barrels, add cedar tones, but this in no way dominates, allowing the purity of red fruit from forty year old vines, to shine through. Drink from 2018 – 2022.

2009 Château Côte Montpezat, Côtes de Castillon
This picturesque château is something of gem, having been extensively refurbished by Dominique Bessineau when he bought the estate in 1989. It is believed that pilgrims en route to St Jacques (Santiago) de Compestella, drank from the well here, and it became a postal staging point in the seventeenth century, adding credence to the fact that this was a stopover for the pilgrims. The vines are around 30 years old, and this classy wine from the Côtes substantiates the ‘old vine’ status with its depth of fruit and backbone. Mostly south facing, clay and limestone dominant slopes, which are planted 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon with low, average yields of just under 50 hectolitres per hectare. The wine spends 12 months in oak, of which one third is new. A further 6 – 8 years will enhance the blackfruit, spice and richness. A perfect example of 2009. Drink from 2015 - 2022.

2009 Château Teyssier, St Emilion Grand Cru
We have followed with great interest, the wines from the larger-than-life- Englishman-abroad, Jonathan Maltus. This elegantly textured, Merlot dominant offering (85% Merlot , 15% Cabernet Franc) has very good grip, lovely ripe intensity of black fruit and was showing harmonious, smokey/toast oak tones at this stage of tatsing. From a brilliantly appointed winery, this has great integrity and shows what these relatively low-lying vineyards of St Sulpice and Vignonet are capable of producing.  Drink from 2012 – 18.

Left Bank

2009 Château l’Argenteyre, Médoc
Philippe and Giles Reich own these 27 hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon 45%, Merlot 40% and Petit Verdot 15% in the commune of Bégadan. The vines are between 15 to 40 years old. The hand picked grapes are macerated for 4 to 5 days at 15 degrees, then fermented in concrete and stainless steel vats. It is surely the Petit Verdot that seduced us here, giving this wine fabulous aromas and stance. We felt that this offered so much on the nose, that this had to be worth every penny of its very modest price. Drink from 2014 – 2019.

2009 Château d’Aurilhac, Haut-Médoc
In a sea of new, exciting and impressive wines, it was a joy to discover a château which we had offered from our ‘05 en primeur campaign. 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot with equal amounts of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc contributing great vibrancy of colour and aromatics to the blend. Erik Nieuwaal’s vineyards cover 20 hectares (48 acres) in the Pauillac region, and one senses some of the influence of this great commune. This Cru Bourgeois showed all the sweet, black cherry fruit of a Left Bank wine from a great vintage, and was exceptionally rounded, with ripe tannins and wrap-around charm. Very good length, this should start drinking from 2018 - 2022.  

2009 Château La Tour de By, Médoc
Within 300 meters of the Gironde, and at 15 meters above sea level, global warming might yet have its evil way. The eponymous tower was built on the foundations of a lighthouse, which in turn was built on an ancient windmill. In 1876 the impressive château was added. The 75 hectares of vines have been wholly owned by Marc Pagès since 1999, and he now runs the estate with the help of his son Xavier. The average age of the vines - Cabernet Sauvignon (70%), Merlot (25%) and Caberent Franc (5%), is about 35 years old, and they are moving towards organic status. The lay of the land allows the harvest to be machine-picked, and the wine is fermented in a mix of wood and steel. Only 20% of the barrels are replaced each year, so new oak is never a dominant feature here. This is a very decent, grown-up claret with good cassis and lovely, correct structure. It will appeal to the traditionalists. Drink from 2017– 2020. 

2009 Château Mille Roses, Margaux
Situated half way between Giscours and Cantemerle, with vines spread across the two neighbouring communes of Arsac and Macau, David and Sophie Faure started out with one acre in 1999, which has, little by little, morphed into a respectable estate of just under 23 acres, 10 acres of which is  AOC Margaux and the rest is AOC Haut-Médoc. We felt that within Margaux there were some outstanding wines – as well as some dregs, but the Faure family have out-performed many of their more illustrious neighbours, and produced this juicy, beautifully structured Cabernet (55%) dominant wine. This has plenty of the natural Margaux ‘grip’, which in an average year can be a little aggressive, but in 2009 we found it added harmony and balance. Drink from 2017 – 2022.

2009  Château Bernadotte, Haut-Médoc
Recently sold by May-Eliane Lencquesaing to the champagne house, Louis Roederer, having been bought, refurbished and subsequently run by Madame Lencquesaing and her team at Pichon Lalande. Thirty-five hectares on free-draining gravel/clay soil, planted to 47% Cabernet, 47% Merlot and Petir verdot 5%. Dense black fruit, smoke, spice and with bags of velvety tannins. Great length and charm. We thought this was an outstanding effort. Drink from 2015 –2020.

 

2009 Château du Glana, St Julien
This relatively unknown château in St Julien, stands on the west side of the D2, almost opposite the driveway, vineyards and swanky, flag-bedecked Ducru Beaucaillou to the east. This sizeable estate (42 hectares), is owned and run by the extremely personable Meffre family. The first vintage we took from them was the 2002 which sold very well. We then had a runaway success when we offered their 2005 En Primeur, and fully expect their 2009 to fly out of the door, as it represents great value for money. Made from 67% Cabernet, 27% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc, this has fine, floral notes on the nose, with quite dense cassis and chunky blackfruit on the palate. Firm yet very elegant.  Around 20% new oak is used, allowing this to drink earlier than some of its neighbours, and at a marginally saner price, too. Drink from 2015 – 2022.

2009 Les Fiefs de Lagrange, St Julien
Since this worthy château embraced outside investment, the quality and consistency have marched on, hand in hand. The red vineyards are planted on some of the highest land (Gunzian gravel) in St Julien to 65% Cabernet , 28% Merlot and 7% Petit Verdot and the wine for Les Fiefs gets 20% new oak.  A vintage such as this, showing all the attendant black fruit and lifted aromatics, shares the Grand Vin’s fine tannic structure and will appeal to all fans of this fresh and elegant style. This fights its corner brilliantly well, and will be a joy in seven or eight years time. Drink 2016 – 2020.

2009 Château Lacoste-Borie, Pauillac
This is the ‘second’ wine of Fifth Growth Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste; and the second wine of such an excellent and reliable estate is always going to be good news and value in such a great vintage. Around 70% Cabernet, 28% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc. This is a really good performance from Xavier Borie’s GPL stable. Black cherries, fruit cake and cassis with fine mouth-feel; suave and wonderfully subtle texture. Drink from 2015 – 2022.



2009 Château Lalande-Borie, St Julien    
Château Lalande Borie was founded in 1970 by Jean Eugene Borie, owner of Château Ducru Beaucaillou, who purchased a piece of land from a 3rd growth estate and added it to another small property, Château Lalande, that he owned. He subsequently added the family name to this new enterprise giving us the estate we know today – tun by Bruno Borie. 50% Cabernet, 40% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc – brimming with succulent black-fruit and with 09’s tell-tale velvet texture. Drink from 2018 – 2022.

SOLD OUT

2009 Château Chasse-Spleen, Moulis-en-Médoc
We are always a divided team when it comes to Moulis, and every year we are split over which out of our two favourites has performed the best – Chasse-Spleen or Poujeaux. We couldn’t decide in 2009, so we bought the former, partly because we have been selling this Château’s wines for longer, and partly because we thought this was the best wine from them in a decade. Propelled to fame by the now late Bernadette Villars, the reputation is more than maintained by daughter Claire. Eighty hectares of Cabernet (73%), Merlot (20%) and Petit Verdot (7%) are planted on gravel / chalky clay between St Julien and Margaux. This will spend 14 months in oak – 40% new. Excellent weight of lush, ripe, blackfruit with textured, voluptuous and hallmark 09 wrap-around tannins. Drink from 2018 – 2030.

SOLD OUT



2009 Château Haut-Batailley, 5ème Cru Classé, Pauillac
Consistently fine production from this Fifth Growth château way down in the  south extremities of Pauillac, to the west of Pichon Baron. Haut-Batailley is where class and elegance meet, with ‘09s ripe tannins, seductive, warm cassis and baked earth tones, integrate beautifully with fine acidity and freshness. Fifty-odd acres of Cabernet Sauvignon (65%), Merlot (25%) and Cabernet Franc (10%), the juice is fermented in temperature controlled, stainless steel vats, before going into barrels (40% new oak) for up to 20 months. This is rather the antithesis to the Parker-style, blockbuster, which is just as well, because production is quite small and there wouldn’t be enough to flood the US market! Drink from 2015 - 2025.

SOLD OUT

2009 Réserve de la Comtesse, Pauillac
This was tasted alongside Bernadotte when we visited Pichon Lalande. Rich dark chocolatey flavours with plum skins and blackcurrants. Lots of firm dry tannins but these open up to vanillin flavours. Well structured, with classy, underlying grip and tannins. Along with Bernadotte and the grand vin, we were left in little doubt that the winemaking team here exploited the richness that was inherent in 09. 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot and 9% Cabernet Franc. At somewhere around half the price of Pichon itself, even the paupers amongst us can enjoy a slice of this top class action! Drink from 2015 – 2022. 

SOLD OUT



2009 Les Pagodes de Cos, St Estèphe
Although we weren’t sold on the Grand Vin, we considered the Second wine to be the belle of the ball, when we tasted Jean-Guillaume Pratt’s range in his spectacular new tasting hall – despite its rather dark, cathedral-like ambience and lack of natural light. 69% Cabernet, 30% Merlot and a magical 1% Petit Verdot. Showing considerable weight of fruit, yet still managing the classic St Estèphe structure, which really only becomes acceptable in great vintages like 2009. Grainy, ethereal damson fruit on the nose, which morphs into intense black fruit, chocolate, spice and cassis on the palate.  With more than a nod to the Napa, this promises to be a stunner – in a decade or two.
Drink from 2018 - 2025

SOLD OUT

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2009 Alter Ego de Palmer, Margaux
We tasted this along with Ch Palmer at the end of a very long day’s tasting, and it was this particular wine, that rather nailed the colours of the vintage to the mast. Palmer sits atop a gravely plateau in sight of the River Garonne and Château Margaux, with its 55 hectares of vineyards in the commune of Cantenac. This 49% Merlot, 51% Cabernet   encompassed the depth of dense, ripe black fruit, overlaid with 09’s svelte, velvety tannins, yet despite its purported 13.6 alcohol, had a lightness of touch, that made one want to drink it there and then!  This will deliver immense enjoyment. Drink from 2018 – 2025. 
2009 Alter Ego de Palmer, Margaux £450.00
SOLD OUT 

2009 Clos du Marquis, St Julien    
This was the first time we had a one-to-one tutored tasting at Las Cases, but it wasn’t this that made us buy their Clos du Marquis. It was the fact that the wine was extraordinarily pretty, and I just can’t wait to drink it in 15 years time. Maybe it’s a St Julien ‘thing’, but there seems to be a theme, or a seam, of creamy cassis running through the wines of the commune. This has that, with fine sweet fruit , great length and a touch of defining tar – or goudron as my notes pretentiously noted at the time. Apologies. Drink from 2018 – 2025. 

2009 Château Langoa Barton, 3ème Cru Classé, St Julien
Langoa is always the easier of the two Barton wines to taste, with a hint more overt fruit – but the '09, much like the '05, made us wonder why pay more for the Léoville when the Langoa is so outstandingly good? The answer would become more apparent with the passing of the years – with the latter peaking earlier, and the former having the legs to take it into a third decade if patience and resolve permitted. 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot and 12% Cabernet Franc of which 60% will go into new oak. At the time of tasting, this already had some beautiful oak tones, which were merely signposts of something wiser and more structural to come. This is a big wine with grip and tannins, supporting tarry, sweet, ripe black fruit. We loved the creamy finish. Drink from 2019 – 2029.

2009 Château Léoville Barton, 2ème Cru Classé, St Julien
Around 77% Cabernet and 23% Merlot, but there is 0.5% splash of Cabernet Franc. So we were told! Like its junior sibling, this wine has great structural properties, and the initial impression when tasted was that this was a very serious wine, with masses of brooding, ripe tannins. At this very early stage, however, black fruit, tar, coffee beans and spice were all in strong evidence, but these will undoubtedly disappear in due course, to emerge in future years. Unlike its junior sibling, however, this was taking no prisoners, and is undoubtedly a wine for very long-term keeping – which will probably be the toast of top restaurants in many years to come. Drink from 2021 – 2035.

2009 Château Palmer, 2ème Cru Classé, Margaux
We fell in love with the '09 Palmer; it was a sensation. For the first time, this has marginally more Merlot (52%) than Cabernet (41%) with a slice of Petit Verdot (7%) thrown in to add its own magic. Intense purple/black fruit, with super-ripe tannins and velvet texture. Serious concentration of flavours – with maybe more plum than black cherries/cassis, but at this stage (29th March), the overriding impression was of a four-square classic which will be a revelation in twenty years time. A joy to taste and experience.  Drink from 2020 – 2035. (6 bottle case)

 

 

2008 Burgundy  - An En Primeur Offer

Delightful wines, with some of the power of the ‘06s combined with the charm of the ‘07s.

A rather damp and humid spring, followed by an equally dull and overcast July, gave vent to universal wailing and gnashing of teeth along the Côte d’Or, as they stared in despair at advancing grey rot amongst unripe bunches. Then, on the 13th September, there was the almost biblical parting of the clouds, as the wind moved around to the north and remained there for the following fortnight. The effect of this cold wind was two-fold. By evaporating the excess moisture, those bunches that were affected by grey rot shrivelled and fell to the ground, whilst the sugars and acidity in the healthy grapes became concentrated and measurable. Although it was not blazing sunshine, the clear, bright weather was enough to fully ripen the crop. At harvest, growers were astonished at the level of sugar attained, which was supremely well balanced by the amount of natural acidity. The resulting wines have up-front, ripe aromas and flavours which are likely to persist. The whites have plenty of fresh, citrus acidity, and the reds show ripe, silky tannins for excellent, medium-term keeping. As we have also seen in Bordeaux, it is so often the more challenging growing seasons without the great extremes of temperature, which result in some of the most attractive and well-balanced wines. 2008 would fall into this happy category.

Please email or telephone if you would like to place your order or discuss your requirements on adnams.co.uk  or 01502 727 222.

The following wines are all offered En Primeur. The majority will be shipped later this summer, or early 2011, when Duty, VAT and delivery will be charged. The Domaine de la Bongran will be shipped in 2012.

Domaine de la Bongran, Mâcon

From his 15 hectares of chalky, Jurassic soils in the foothills of the Quintaine hills, Jean Thévenet has produced yet another fine vintage. Jean’s aim is to leave his Chardonnay on the vine as late as possible in order to achieve maximum ripeness and possible nuances of Botrytis. The vineyards get natural composts, and are mechanically weeded and cultivated. Bongran achieved organic certification in 2007, but to the best of our knowledge, little or no chemical intervention has ever been used here anyway. The super-ripe grapes are gently pressed in the pneumatic press, then left to ferment, using their own yeasts, in stainless steel or large, old oak foudres – for anything from 6 to 24 months; a time scale unheard of in modern wineries, where three weeks would be the norm. This estate has long since earned iconic status at Adnams, and remains a very firm favourite with customers and staff alike.

2008 Domaine de la Bongran, Mâcon     £135.00
Old vine, super-ripe concentration and minerality. White flowers, jasmine and violet aromas follow through to the palate. Another great effort for fine, medium-term drinking from 2012 to 2016.

Domaine Antoine Jobard, Meursault

We have bought the wines of François Jobard in the past, but now that his son has joined him (the Domaine now carries the name Antoine, not François), we feel the winemaking has been crankedup a notch here, and although we can see his father’s steadying influence, this Domaine’s fine, authentic expression has an added spark of vitality and minerality, which we do not recall from yesteryear.

2008 Meursault ‘En Barre’ £350.00
Quite closed at tasting, but underlying weight of stylish fruit. Structurally fine, and has grand, mid-term potential. Drinking from 2014.

2008 Meursault 1er Cru ‘Les Genevrières’ £515.00
Sherbet lemons, with honey and white flower aromas. Soft, rounded and silky. Very feminine and will be a dream in six years hence. Drink 2016.

Domaine Bachelet-Monnot, Dezize-lès-Maranges

This is a relatively new property to us, although we have been selling their Maranges 1er Cru ‘La Fussière’ successfully for the past eighteen months.  The young brothers Marc and Alexandre Bachelet now run this domaine having moved out from under their father’s wing. They started out with seven hectares to which they have added a further six, with the judicious renting of some old vines from Madame Monnot (a relation) in Puligny. An absolute minimum of treatments is used in the vineyard, and the brothers prefer to use natural yeasts with no finings or filtration in the winery. The bottling is done when the moon is on the wane, so the gravitational pull in their wines keep the fine deposit in the tank – and not in the bottle. The following wines excited us:

2008 Bourgogne Blanc £105.00
This has crisp citrusy fruit and creamy vanilla tones from the 15% new oak. Rich and ripe. Drink from 2011.

2008 Puligny-Montrachet Villages £250.00
Freshness, richness, lemons, pineapple, vanillin. Lovely length of citrus and Cox’s apples.  Drink from 2013. 

             

2008 Puligny-Montrachet, ‘Les Folatières’ £450.00
Impressive, minerally grip tempered by quality oak aromas. Ripe fruit balanced by fine acidity. Drink from 2015.

                      

2008 Santenay ‘Charmes’ £155.00
Wow! Gorgeous rich, ripe aromas.  Red fruit and ripe cherry flavours with a savoury, bacon edge. Fine tannins, good substance. Superb value. Their first, and mightily impressive vintage from this vineyard. Drink from 2014.

                    

Maison Morey-Blanc, Meursault

This is the negiotiant business, set up by Pierre Morey and his wife Christiane Blanc. Pierre, who has now retired as Domaine Leflaive’s winemaker, continues with the family business under the Domaine Pierre Morey label, but has added the Maison Morey-Blanc to his repertoire. When we visited the cellars, Pierre was suffering from a cold, so his sister Anne gave us a tasting. The main focus here is white wines, and they are bullish about the quality of these 08s, which are charged with ripe fruit and high natural acidity, ensuring freshness and vitality. After tasting their range, and in context with the many other wines we tasted, we felt the following two white wines were shining examples of the winemaking here, and of the wines’ appellations. 

2008 Auxey-Duresses £195.00
Charming aromas of spicy oak, crème brulée and bananas. Super minerality and mouth feel. A revelation. Drink from 2012.

2008 St Aubin, 1er cru £235.00
Lovely clean, crystalline aromas. Freshness and some exotic fruit tones (pineapples and pears), with a rich, ripe finish. Drink from 2012.

 

Etienne Sauzet, Puligny-Montrachet

Even the talented and highly accomplished Gerard Boudot saw the 2008 vintage as quite challenging. Never before had they needed to do so much ‘triage’ in the vineyard, but the resulting selection was of healthy and partly over-ripe grapes with good potential levels of both alcohol and acidity. Gerard suggests that the additional depth of colour in his ‘08s comes from the vintage’s smaller-than-usual grapes. He is a modest fellow, but believes he has produced some outstanding wines in this vintage. The following are magnificent, and we have taken everything we could get.

2008 Bourgogne Blanc, ‘Tufera’ £135.00
Floral, open Chardonnay, with tell-tale limey notes. Rich, ripe and rounded in the mouth. Drink from 2010 /12.

2008 Puligny-Montrachet Villages £325.00
From four sites in Puligny-Montrachet; Le Trézin, Les Meix, Charmes and Les Corvées. Balanced and
elegantly rich with fine, focused lemon flavours. Drink from 2012.

2008 Puligny-Montrachet, 1er Cru ‘Les Referts’ £480.00
Rounded, plump wine with generous honey and citrus flavours. Harder to access at this stage, but Les Referts so often is. Drink from 2012.

2008 Puligny-Montrachet, 1er Cru ‘Les Perrières’ £480.00
A class act; spice and exotic fruit aromas, lemon sorbet and ripe melon and pineapple tones, with attendant, elegant vanilla finish. Drink from 2012.

2008 Bâtard-Montrachet, Grand Cru £1350.00
Outstanding. Toasty aromas, with pineapple, melon and vanilla. Very long in the mouth, rich and ripe. Drink from 2015.

Domaine Leflaive, Puligny-Montrachet

The Domaine suggests that the 2008 vintage brings together the best of 2006 and 2007, having the generosity of the former and the purity and transparency of the latter. This has come at a cost however, with the overall volume down by 17% on last year. The 2008 is certainly worthy of space in your cellars; these wines are exemplary examples.

2008 Bourgogne Blanc   £230.00
Sourced from two small vineyards - Les Houlierès and Les Parties, which lie immediately south of Puligny. Pure, buttery fruit with lifted citrusy tang. Drink 2010/12.

2008 Puligny-Montrachet Villages £410.00
Grapes mostly from 40 – 50-year-old vines in Les Tremblots, Les Nosroyes and Les Brelances. The rich lushness of fruit is finely balanced with Leflaive’s tell-tale acidity in evidence. Drink from 2013.

2008 Puligny-Montrachet, 1er Cru ‘Le Clavoillon’ £565.00
The 50-year-old vines have produced a wine of real presence; golden with rich peach and white fruit flavours. Citrus and minerality combine. Drink from 2013.

2008 Puligny-Montrachet, 1er Cru ‘Les Pucelles’   6 bottles £495.00
Extraordinarily accomplished, showing all the depth of creamy white fruit. Zesty minerality, with perfect balance. Drink from 2013.

2008 Chevalier-Montrachet, Grand Cru    6 bottles     £1,200.00
Vines planted in the 1950s with some replanting in ’74 and ’80. The soil is leaner than in Le Montrachet, which helps this Grand Cru to age so magnificently. Pure, elegant, creamy, powerful with hints of yeast and lees which will allow this to evolve and grow. A great wine from a fantastic estate and a beautiful vintage. Drink from 2015 – 2025.

Domaine Anne Gros, Vosne-Romanée

Anne continues to plough her own furrow – both figuratively and metaphorically. As a lady of the soil, she identifies her vineyards by soil-type and how she works each type, and how she prunes and trains the vines is of paramount importance. She chooses not to be labelled as ‘organic’, but all her vineyard practices and her philosophy of lutte raisonnée in the vineyards, would probably qualify her as such. This is a small Domaine, with a serious, international reputation for top-end quality. Quantities are small.

2008 Bourgogne Rouge       £158.00
Why buy Anne’s Rouge simple when you can buy a wine from the Hautes- Côtes?  The grapes come from several sites – Concoeur, Le Champs d’Argent, Les Glapigny and Les Pasquiers which give immediacy and a broad, varietal brush-stroke. Delightfully ripe strawberry fruit, reined in by clean acidity and linear tannins which will carry this for five years. Discreet use of new oak. Seriously good value. 2014.

2008 Hautes-Côtes de Nuits Rouge     £158.00
This comes from Anne’s Concoeur vineyard, so has a bit more defined structure, with underlying herbs and  spice, touch of oak and identifiable terroir. Drink from 2014.

2008 Hautes-Côtes de Nuits Blanc, ‘Cuvée Marine’ £158.00
The marked influence of oak (around 30% new), gives a multitude of flavours which encompass honey and hazelnuts, apples and pears, passion fruit and pineapples. The relatively low yielding vines mean there is lively acidity and masses of fruit extract to carry this ‘junior’ yet serious, Chardonnay. Drink from 2012.

2008 Chambolle Musigny ‘La Combe d’Orveau £335.00
This comes from a 2.5 acre block of vines, of which about a half are 45 years old. Planted on quite rich, stony soils, and protected by woodlands. Red fruit character dominates (red currant, strawberries and raspberries), with classic aromas of violets and roses. The ’08 needs at least 4 years to evolve.  Drink from 2015.

2008 Echezeaux  Grand Cru,  ‘Les Loachausses’  6 bottles £290.00
Anne took on this 1.8 acres vineyard in 2007, changed the training system and started to work the deep, dark, stony soils, with the almost immediate results of healthy vines and much better fruit maturity. This is one to watch. Fine silky tannins underline red fruit tones – with a touch of wood smoke and spice.  Drink from 2017.

      
2008 Clos Vougeot Grand Cru, ‘ Le Grand Maupertui’ 6 bottles £365.00
Outstanding achievement. ‘Powerful yet elegant’ could almost be Anne’s mantra. A fine combination of black fruit influences – cherry, prunes and cassis, highlighted by a complex array of spices. This will age well over the next 10+ years. Drink from 2018.

Domaine Rossignol-Trapet, Gevrey-Chambertin

We are very keen on this Domaine, and enjoy tasting with the very realistic Nicolas Rossignol who tells us how it is! This is a biodynamic estate whose wines we have been buying for over a decade, and from whom we even bought some astonishingly good 1972.  The quality here is very high, and the style of the wines teeters between the substantial and the elegant, but always complex and interesting

2008 Bourgogne Rouge  £115.00
Bright raspberry aromas, smokey, sweet, rounded fruit. This is quite simple Pinot Noir, but by reputation, will evolve into great value drinking. Drink from 2013.

                    

2008 Gevrey-Chambertin Villages  £245.00
Youthful black cherry and damsons. Spice and tar. Concentrated. Drink from 2015.

                           

2008 Gevrey-Chambertin, 1er Cru ‘Petite Chapelle’ £410.00
Dried figs, raspberry and pepper. Power and warmth with good grip. Drink from 2015.

2008 Latricières-Chambertin, Grand Cru  £620.00
Black fruit and vanilla aromas. This has power, concentration and restraint. Great promise.  Drink from 2018.

                     
2008 Chambertin, Grand Cru  £795.00
A meaty quality with elegant concentration and firm tannins.  Beautiful acidity and length Statuesque. Drink from 2020.                     
 

 

Plus, from the New World:

2008 Monte Bello, Ridge Vineyards, Santa Cruz
Futures

The final assemblage hasn’t yet been made for the 2008 Monte Bello, but the word from Ridge is that currently they are looking at 81% Cabernet and19% Merlot. They didn’t have a small enough tank for their Cabernet Franc, which went in with the adjacent Cabernet Sauvignon, and the Petit Verdot will probably find its way in at the final stages. Early tastings in December suggested that they have an exceptional vintage. The 2007 Geyserville was bottled in January of this year. The exceptional quality of Carignan and Petite Sirah (also known as Durif) argued for their full inclusion; percentages are comparable to the superb 1991 vintage. The sensuous structure and opulent fruit makes this a wine with immediate appeal, but don’t be fooled; it will continue for a further decade.

2008 Monte Bello, Ridge Vineyards  6 bottles   £399
Code UX16 Drink from 2018 – 2025

 

This wine will be shipped in 2011 - or when Paul Draper deems it is ready! Duty and VAT will be charged at this time.