2008 Chablis Clos des Hospices

The barrel-matured Moreau 2008 Chablis Les Clos des Hospices – as usual, issuing from a single sweet spot in the Clos – displays smoky toasty notes from barrel that segue relatively harmoniously into the fusil crushed stone character associated with the terroir. Musky floral and blond tobacco notes add allure. This is not showing more than marginal heat and is plush and texturally seamless rather than in the least rough; nevertheless, one is aware of higher alcohol as well as more wood, especially when compared with the soaring elegance and levity of the corresponding Blanchots or relative cut and transparency of the “regular” Les Clos. This preserves stony as well as bitter-sweet length but hasn’t the juiciness, intricacy, or depth of its close sibling. I find it hard to doubt – given the superb quality of that “regular” Les Clos bottling – that the Clos des Hospices fruit, had it been vinified in the same manner, would have turned out spectacularly. Similarly, I find it hard to believe – nor have tastings of the few earlier vintages of this bottling altered my impression – that this will ever outgrow a certain awkwardness due to its wood. Christian and Fabien Moreau are among those fans of 2008 who think of the vintage as combining the best aspects of its two predecessors. “You just watched the grapes go rolling by on the table de trie,” remarks Christian Moreau, “without having to do any work.” However one conceptualizes it, results in 2008 are superb and to my palate the top wines are considerably more exciting than any I have previously tasted from this address. Fermentations were generally allowed to proceed spontaneously rather than being yeasted – and in consequence both alcoholic and malo-lactic fermentations of several lots lasted until April – which might account for some of the added complexity and refinement as well as effective digestion of their oak component that characterizes these superb wines. (The Moreaus’ effusive 2009s – from a vintage they compare with 2000 – finished fermenting a bit earlier, and were extremely promising when tasted this April, demonstrating that this domaine is on a roll.) Importer: Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700