2008 Maison Joseph Drouhin Vosne-Romanée Les Petits-Monts 1er Cru

From Veronique Drouhin-Boss’s personal acreage, the 2008 Vosne-Romanee Les Petits Monts – of which there are but three barrels – smells alluringly of cassis, dark cherry and citrus oils along with white pepper, soy, and ginger. Sweetly ripe and pungently spicy, it turns impressively dark and brooding as it moves toward its finish, with peat, chalk, and forest floor elements, its abundant tannins fine-grained and well-shrouded. Cinnamon and clove add to the persistence of ginger in a succulent, at once vivacious and transparent yet (metaphorically) darkly-hued finish. Several years of cellaring would be advisable here and I expect the wine will remain worth following for at least a dozen years. “2008 was very slow in doing its malolactic – which was good, and ended up with a pretty lively impression of acidity” remarked Veronique Boss-Drouhin, “and I think the wines will be slow to evolve in bottle, as well.” Numerous cuvees were still in tank or barrel when I visited in March, which constitutes an unusually late schedule at this address. The 2007s, by contrast, were bottled even earlier than normal, most at age 12 months. In 2008, a 15-25% share of stems and whole clusters was included in the fermenting vat for the Clos des Mouches and for most of the Drouhin grand crus, whereas in 2007 that degree of vendange entier was practically the rule across the entire Drouhin range (by no means all of which I tasted). Importer: Dreyfus-Ashby & Co., New York, NY; tel. (212) 818-0770

Good deep red. Reduced nose offers black and blue fruits. Sweet, fat and dense, with smoky reduction currently blocking the wine's fruit. Hard to taste today, but this rich wine spreads out nicely to saturate the palate.