2008 Nuits St Georges Aux Bas de Combes

Wood smoke, leather, cark cherry, and raw meat in the nose of the Tardy 2008 Nuits-St.-Georges Aux bas de Combe Vieilles Vignes lead to a palate whose imposing sense of density comes at the price of rather rustic, chewy tannins. That said, there is certainly a brightness and a basic concentration here that may show their meddle in time, and one can certainly envision this remaining fresh for 8-10 years, though about its tannins softening harmoniously in the process I am skeptical. Young Guillaume Tardy took the reins from his father Jean in 2003, and beginning with the 2008 vintage has had to cede back to Meo-Camuzet the 50% share of fruit they long-retained for farming prime parcels in Nuits Boudots, adjacent Vosne Chaumes, and Clos Vougeot. While de-stemming entirely, Tardy is able to still retain a significant share of un-ruptured berries in the fermentor. Among his other habits intended to emphasize purity of fruit are absence or racking and bottling in December or January (although tardy malos resulted in the 2008s being bottled a bit later). I was especially surprised – as my scores suggest – to have found the 2007 vintage here so evenly-matched in quality with 2008, which Guillaume Tardy said was the more difficult of the two for him. A Becky Wasserman Selection (various importers), Le Serbet; fax 011- 333-80-24-29-70