2008 Vosne Romanee Beaumonts

Rouget’s 2008 Vosne-Romanee Les Beaumonts offers a somewhat sweet-tart or confectionary-fresh alternation already adumbrated in this vintage’s Nuits-St.-Georges. Marzipan and framboise liqueur seem to be mingled with tart red currant, rhubarb, and pungent citrus oils. A hint of superficial resin and vanilla from new wood admittedly fits the confectionary side of this wine. At the same time, crushed stone, iodine, and brown spices add considerable complexity to a seamlessly-, silken-textured if as yet otherwise slightly bifurcated impression, and there is impressive sheer length in this Pinot likely to be worth following for a decade or longer. I tasted Emmanuel Rouget’s 2008s from barrel in April and he was planning to bottle them within a month. According to one of Rouget’s favorite descriptors, the vintage was “tres particulaire,” not to mention challenging. “I harvested at an average of 12%” potential alcohol, he reports, “and chaptalized less than a degree. That sufficed. It was more important to harvest while there was still good weather and besides, it was already cold. There was a lot of acidity, but that conveys a superb equilibrium and level of freshness. The wines really exhibit the plenitude of Pinot.” Rouget rejects what he acknowledges is a widespread comparison of 2008 with 1996, suggesting that the latter “was more marked by sunshine, and resulted in less-noticeable acidity.” (As noted in the introduction to this report, he compares 2008 with 1986.) Importer: Martine’s Wines, Novato, CA; tel. (415) 883-0400