2008 Chambertin

Good full red. Brooding nose hints at menthol and crushed stone; less expressive but more elegant than the Clos de Beze. The biggest, richest and deepest of this series, with powerful minerality contributing to the impression of backbone. Offers outstanding richness and intensity without weight and really expands in the mouth, but this will need a minimum of ten years of cellaring to express its flavor potential. Very closed today and not nearly as sweet as the Clos de Beze. The palate-dusting, powerfully mineral finish goes on and on. I suspect this will eventually merit an even higher score.

Tasted at Flint Wine’s 2008 horizontal in London. This has such a beautiful nose: pure crushed strawberry, cranberry and red cherries. Wonderful definition. The palate is lithe and supple on the entry, very well balanced, harmonious with a sensual, seamless finish. Class… pure class.

Cardamom, fresh ginger, licorice, and rose petal alluringly scent Rousseau’s 2008 Chambertin, contributing complexity to a pure seam of ripe dark cherry and raspberry. There is tenderness to the fruit here and a refinement of texture that are not equaled by the other wines in the present collection. Crushed stone, cherry pit, iodine, and peat lend depth to a long, buoyant finish. Cool, clay-rich soils at the southern edge of this appellation explain the frequently enhanced acidity of his Chambertin, says Eric Rousseau, and I wonder to what extent this location also explains the uncanny sense of lift in the present instance. I suspect this will preserve or even enhance its poise and elegance over the next 12-15 years, but I would not wait more than half a dozen before re-visiting and indeed relishing its company. Eric Rousseau did not begin harvesting until September 28, but was finished already on October 4, with – as usual – the entire burden of selection placed on his pickers. The resultant wines prove that, as he puts it “they know what they’re doing” and sorting tables are unnecessary. Grapes came in between around 12% and 13.2%, were virtually all destemmed, and were only lightly chaptalized. Levels of malic acid were however higher even than in 2004, reports Rousseau, who compares the fruit with that of 1996, but does not finger the wines as strong candidates for long-term aging (“long term” – bear in mind – meaning upwards of 20 years in the context of a Rousseau track-record). When I tasted his 2008s in late February, Rousseau was planning to bottle them in March or April, a bit earlier than usual, although several struck me as relatively unformed. But then, his malos had finished by July – not late in terms of the vintage. (Unfortunately, I had only one chance to taste Rousseau 2007s: fleetingly, selectively, at a stage too early to merit reporting on in detail, although the trend was promising and Rousseau is keen on the results.)