2008 Bouchard Père & Fils Beaune Les Teurons 1er Cru

The Bouchard 2008 Beaune Teurons smells alluringly of nutmeg, blond tobacco, ripe cherry and red currant. With a lovely combination of silken texture and enticing berry freshness reminiscent of its Pinot sibling and immediate neighbor from the Clos de la Mousse, it reveals a greater depth of meatiness and ultimately greater richness, while not neglecting savory salinity and chalky minerality. It should be worth following for a dozen or more years. The same person has been farming these parcels and of the Clos de la Mousse for the Bouchard domaine for decades, notes Philippe Prost. Director-winemaker Philippe Prost made no attempt to minimize the challenges of 2008 and was careful to distinguish between its wind-borne concentration and genuinely ideal phenolic maturity (approached more nearly this year in white than red). He opined that the wide window afforded for relaxed picking despite the late calendar date was critical, since the levels of ripeness were so disparate from one site to another. That said, he showed me an outstanding collection of Pinots. Ironically, as he pointed out, ripeness was also disparate in one of the two earliest vintages on record, 2007, yet picking – while fitful – was anything but relaxed due to the pressure of rot. And here, too, Bouchard scored excellent successes. By means of, where necessary, “swapping lees” between barrels to inoculate stubborn lots, Prost says he was able to get all of his 2008s through malo-lactic conversion in timely fashion, which he considers especially important with Pinot. Bottling of the 2008 reds – with a few exceptions mentioned in my notes and due to have been bottled in April – took place in December and January, the same schedule adopted for their 2007s. I did not have an opportunity to taste nearly all of Bouchard’s vast collection from either vintage, and have in the text of my notes indicated a few from among their 2008s that I take to represent significant omissions. (I have not noted “Domaine” to distinguish those wines that are part of the Bouchard, except in cases where there is another otherwise eponymous wine.) Importer: Henriot, Inc, New York, NY; tel. (212) 605-6767