2008 Vosne Romanee Les Brulees (2024 Release)

Despite their relatively close proximity, this is completely different from the Boudots as here the ripe black fruit nose is much more floral in character with its dried rose petal character though there is more similarity on the palate as the rich, intense, powerful, robust and mineral-inflected flavors ooze dry extract that renders the extremely firm tannins much less prominent than they otherwise would be on the driving and balanced finish. This is a big and explosive wine that is clearly built for the very long haul. Drink 2028+

Hints of game and animal fur as well as musky perfume of peony and narcissus all contribute funk to the aromatic complexity of Bize-Leroy’s 2008 Vosne-Romanee Aux Brulees, whose sweet side is represented by ripe black fruits, garlanded in heliotrope and fading lily. A marine alliance of alkalinity and mouthwateringly salinity joins peat, chalk, black tea, and forest underbrush and detritus on a silken, strikingly buoyant palate that really takes one on a tour of the dark, decadent mansion of Vosne-Romanee. This finishes darkly, deeply, envelopingly – and yet, the vivacious impingement of fresh berries, piquancy of tea and fruit pit, and invigorating pungency of mineral salts offer quickening 2008 typicity as well as a striking sense of counterpoint. This fits the Burgundian saying about Pinot offering a glass of night before you go into your own long night, and I hope to meet this sinisterly profound Vosne once more before The Reaper calls me. This wine harbors 20-25 years of vigor. (About myself, I’m a little less sure.) Lalou Bize-Leroy reports average 2008 Pinot Noir yields of 13 hectoliters per hectare, almost absurdly tiny even by her singular standards. Malos were a bit later than usual but were finished by summer, and the wines bottled – as usual – in December. Yet – also as usual – if their development was thereby in any way stunted, you certainly won’t detect it in the bottle today! The best of these display a sense of transparency; levity; and – even when rich and head-spinningly complex – a sheer sense of refreshment and invigoration that I have seldom encountered in other great wines from these sister estates. (Please note that my account of the complete 2007 red collection at Leroy was published in issue #189.) Importer: Martine’s Wines. Novato, CA; tel. (415) 883-040

Hints of game and animal fur as well as musky perfume of peony and narcissus all contribute funk to the aromatic complexity of Bize-Leroy’s 2008 Vosne-Romanee Aux Brulees, whose sweet side is represented by ripe black fruits, garlanded in heliotrope and fading lily. A marine alliance of alkalinity and mouthwateringly salinity joins peat, chalk, black tea, and forest underbrush and detritus on a silken, strikingly buoyant palate that really takes one on a tour of the dark, decadent mansion of Vosne-Romanee. This finishes darkly, deeply, envelopingly – and yet, the vivacious impingement of fresh berries, piquancy of tea and fruit pit, and invigorating pungency of mineral salts offer quickening 2008 typicity as well as a striking sense of counterpoint. This fits the Burgundian saying about Pinot offering a glass of night before you go into your own long night, and I hope to meet this sinisterly profound Vosne once more before The Reaper calls me. This wine harbors 20-25 years of vigor. (About myself, I’m a little less sure.)