Vintage Report & Recommendations

Bordeaux 2008 - A Vintage of Unexpected Quality

We visited Bordeaux last week with uncertain expectations. For months stories had circulated about the challenging weather conditions that the region had to face. Yet as usual, positive reports sprang up about how the vintage was actually looking better than expected and certainly better than 2007. Hearing all this ‘Bordeaux speak’ over the years has made us efficient filterers, separating fact from fiction. Despite our having some exceptional friends in this maritime region, we always take in most of what is said with a pinch of Ile de Ré salt.

What happened over the course of the week utterly (and unexpectedly) transformed our opinion of 2008 Bordeaux. Visit after visit unfurled delicious, velvety wines that had both more concentration as well as more vibrant red fruit than 2007. They revealed lots of fleshiness yet amazing precision and notable structure. Perennial ‘Old Faithfuls’ such as Grand Puy Lacoste, Pontet Canet, Talbot, Cos d’Estournel, and Issan were in full glory while châteaux such as Montrose tasted better than in recent vintages. For the most part, herbaceousness was kept far at bay except for a few underperforming châteaux such as Beychevelle and various properties in the Graves which unfortunately did not show well the day we tasted them.

The big names, however, were not the only ones to stand out. Last year the Médoc/Haut Médoc appellation tasting was dire; glass after glass of wine lacked soul and charm. This year, however, there were lots of lesser expensive wines that had a ‘wow’ factor. It is easy to make excellent wine in a great vintage. But to understand the true potential of a vintage is to judge their less prestigious wines – and this is where 2008 scored well.

How did all this happen? After all, there was hail in the spring, cool, rainy weather at flowering and a cool, wet summer. The secret was multi-fold: the lowest yields since 1991, a sunny, dry end of August and autumn as well as an exceptionally late harvest. Most châteaux started picking at the beginning-mid October, finishing up a couple of weeks later. Haut Brion stated that they had not had such a late harvest since 1988. All these elements combined to produce wonderfully concentrated, complex wines that are vibrant, fantastically precise yet with appealing sweet fruit.

Despite the obvious success of many wines, the châteaux faced certain challenges in the chai as well. The small harvest produced tiny, concentrated berries which packed a tannic punch if not handled gently. We cannot deny that some properties just tried too hard, extracting a bit too much. Nonetheless, it will be these tannins which make 2008 an ageworthy vintage – a year that has been compared to 2001 in its fresh precision, but with more sweet fruit, structure, and better than 2004. In certain wines, 1996 seemed an obvious parallel – powerful and refined.

Château Angélus went out on a limb, releasing their 2008 first just a couple of days ago. They made a noteworthy effort offering their 2008 at the 2004 euro price (over 60% less than their 2005 and 40% less than their 2007). It is a positive move forward which we hope will be repeated by other châteaux. If so, it looks to be a value-driven vintage which has the potential to appeal to drinkers and investors alike

Though there were many good wines, here are some of our favourites (in no particular order) which are well worth seeking out.