2008 Romanee St Vivant

This is quite similar to the Suchots in many respects, especially aromatically but there are more dimensions present as the RSV is finer, deeper, more elegant and more complex. The middle weight and reserved flavors are supple and relatively forward, indeed there is a tenderness, even a delicacy to them, all wrapped in a naturally sweet, seductive and hauntingly long finish. Lovely in every respect.

Naturally Lachaux’s 2008 Romanee Saint-Vivant bats last in the Arnoux line-up, but in addition, this vintage it puts every wine that came before it in the collection into perspective, and all but the Reignots in the shade (not that as a group these weren’t already noir enough Pinots). Sumptuous black fruits accented by fruit pit piquancy; complex if to some extent ineffable, decadent forest floor and mineral notes; exotic spices, rich chocolate, and heady floral perfume – all are on display in this seamlessly-rich, already velvet-textured beauty whose structure is implicit but deeply-buried. Yet there is not an ounce of superfluous fat or a bit of superficial sweetness, and there is that vibratory resonance possessed by the exceptional wines of this vintage. There are around 140 cases of this – not a small quantity by the standards of top-notch grand cru Burgundy – though of course a bottle will cost you dearly. I suspect it will be among the last 2008s to still be seducing a few lucky wine lovers 25 or more years from now. I tasted Pascal Lachaux’s 2008s soon after their late-January bottling, and a few of them may have been suffering from trauma they thereby sustained, but on the whole this was an impressive if darkly-hued and unapologetically firmly-structured collection. Lachaux reports that his malos were “on time, normal,” and adds “the truth about 2008 and why the malos were so often retarded is that people sulfured the fruit too heavily at the advice of their enologues.” Even at bottling, Lachaux reports that he was sparing with sulfur and expected to take advantage of the high levels of residual CO2 in his 2008s. He says he allowed temperatures to rise during the fermentation as a means of extracting more flavor without having to actively work the cap and in consequence risk pulling out green flavors or hard tannins. This approach may explain the particularly low-toned personality of this 2008 collection, which certainly didn’t leave me wishing that the wines had sustained additional pigeage! If the number of magnums I saw is any indication, Lachaux seriously intends on putting to the test his confidence in this vintage’s aging potential. Yet he is also very keen on his 2007s, those of which I tasted from bottle were indeed impressive, though I seem even in this instance to be missing what those growers most enamored of their 2007s profess to perceive. Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Pine Plains, NY; tel. (800) 910-1990

Good full red. The most complex of these 2008s on the nose, and a real essence of its village: raspberry, dark cherry, flowers, dark chocolate, Oriental spices and underbrush. Suave and silky in the mouth, with the new oak component contributing to an impression of sucrosite that goes beyond the other '08s in this cellar. Densely packed but not at all hard. The lovely subtle rebound of a finish features harmonious tannins, sweet oak and palate-coating red fruits and spices.