2008 Gevrey Chambertin Capita

The multi-cru Trapet 2008 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Capita smells of black tea, musk, ripe cherry, and heliotrope. With relatively refined tannins and vivacious acidity, it nevertheless comes off a bit lacking in intrigue or vivid persistence, a circumstance I am inclined to attribute to the fact that it was bottled only a few weeks before my visit. I’d want to re-taste this to assess its longer-term potential, though certainly it is built to hold up well for at least 4-6 years. I couldn’t help thinking that the 2007 and especially the 2008 vintage would be a test of Jean-Louis Trapet’s biodynamic methods and faith, as well as of his predilection for vendange entier. There was a lot to like about his 1995 and 1986 collections over and beyond the obvious earnestness and integrity of their author, but one could scarcely claim that precision and purity of fruit were these wines’ fortes. Trapet has passed the test, his faith unshaken and his methods successful in rendering two fine collections that exhibit precise aromas and flavors. Indeed, there are few if any other addresses where I would rank both the 2007s and 2008s ahead of the 2006s. There was, however, a heavy price to be paid for this success, in the form of drastically-reduced yields. Trapet joked that “there was just as much rot and difficulty in 2008 as in 2007; the difference was you had to put up with it for longer.” He held off harvesting in 2008 until September 29, and had to perform a severe selection. None of the 2007s (with potential alcohols ranging from 12.5-13.5%) were chaptalized – and the 2008s only slightly. A Patrick Lesec Selection (various importers), Paris Fax 011 33 4 66 37 67 23