2008 Clos Vougeot

High-toned aromas of maraschino, pistachio, and herbal extracts mingle with red currant and cherry on the nose and bright, firm palate of de Montille’s 2008 Clos Vougeot. As I work this around in my mouth, deeper notes of roasted red meat and crushed stone add depth, while a persistently enticing primary juiciness accompanies them into a long finish, helping to mitigate any sense of austerity. This ought to be worth following for 12-15 years. Etienne de Montille related having taken great pains in early September, 2008 to stave-off encroaching rot and promote ripeness, and felt that his rigorous leaf-pulling and crop-thinning – not to mention eventual triage – paid off sufficiently that he could vinify a substantial portion of the 2008 crop in his preferred manner, utilizing a high proportion of stems and whole clusters (100% in the case of this year’s grand crus and top premier crus). Those wines for which a point spread is indicated were all last tasted shortly before their early spring bottling as finished assemblages in tank – whence they had been racked at the end of 2009 because de Montille did not think their fruit density or lees quality would have supported longer barrel-elevage. (Despite my longstanding predilection for de Montille and his wines, I regret to report that time and circumstance conspired to keep me from tasting his 2007s.) Various importers, including Beaune Imports, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 559 1040; also, a Thomas Calder Selection, Paris; fax 011-33-1-46-45-15-29