I am sorry for this cliché but in Burgundy 2008 is truly a miracle vintage. It has been said about so many vintages recently but 2008 is really something extraordinary. I spoke to a number of growers at the end August and they were deeply depressed. The summer had been a disaster and 2008 looked as if it was going to be the worst vintage since 1984 and if it kept on raining, even worse.
Three weeks of good weather when the north wind blew and the sun shone lifted the growers’ spirits. But it was only after the malolactic fermentation they began to realise that these very ugly ducklings had turned into young swans. There are some quite lovely red wines with superb balance and beautifully defined Pinot fruit whilst the whites will be very good early drinkers.
The French wine press have already damned this vintage because they tasted the wines in February when the malolactic fermentation had not in many cases started.
We still have three more days of tasting but to date the stars amongst the red have been Grivot, Cathiard, Serafin, Fourrier, Clos de Lambray, and Ponsot. Whilst amongst the white Boillot, Fichet and Marc Colin were lovely.