2008 Charmes Chambertin

Ruby-red. Deep aromas of black plum, licorice and flowers, with complicating hints of truffle and underbrush. Broad, silky and sweet, with impressive volume for the vintage. Bright acids frame but do not dominate the dark fruit, smoke and mineral flavors. Finishes long and suave, with fine-grained tannins. This will give early pleasure for a Charmes-Chambertin from Bachelet.

Bachelet’s 2008 Charmes-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes was his sole wine of the vintage to finish malo on an earlier schedule, namely in June, and as he reminds me, not only is this one reason why the wine is so expressive already today; the reason for consistently earlier malo from this parcel of centenarian vines lies in terroir: with white mother chalk just beneath the surface storing heat and resisting water, the fruit here always ripens first (though frequently at relatively low potential alcohol) and with markedly lower malic (and total) acidity, thus rendering a must whose pH is more hospitable to bacteria. A glorious nose of concentrated wild cherry, vanilla, nutmeg, cardamom, herbal elixir, and a hint of caramel ushers in a correspondingly alluring; already sumptuously silken and incipiently creamy; yet persistently vibratory and dynamic palate. Abundant forest floor and stony notes lend depth and mystery, yet for all of their metaphoric darkness and this wine’s suave texture, its explosive finish remains blazingly bright. This will be awesome to follow for the next 20 years if not longer. Unsurprisingly, in Bachelet’s tiny, shallow, and frigid cellar, his 2008s did not complete malo until September. They were in barrel about to be prepped for bottling, when I visited him in late February, making it the ideal time in his view for tasting them. (And Bachelet’s tiny volume makes it relatively easy to accurately approximate the final blend of any wine.) He has always been adamantly opposed to showing his wines for 18-24 months after they are bottled, insisting that in his experience they always suffer in comparison with their performance from barrel as well as with how they will taste 3-4 years after bottling. He did relent and let me taste one 2007 from bottle during my visit, and it was impressive. A Becky Wasserman Selection, Le Serbet; fax 011-333-80-24-29-70

(30% new oak) Bright ruby. Knockout nose combines blackberry, violet, smoked meat and minerals. Complex, broad and sweet, with an element of gras that the preceding wines can't match. This very rich, silky wine saturates the palate with black fruit and licorice fla vors. Finishes long and smoky, with lush tannins. Much farther along in its evolution owing to the fact that the malo finished in June. These vines are nearly 100 years old, says Bachelet, who replaces ind ividual plants as they die.