2008 Grèves Vigne Enfant Jésus

A cool, almost perpetually breezy site in a vintage of cool, wind-driven concentration, results in a buoyant, refreshing, penetrating personality. Bouchard’s flagship 2008 Beaune Greves L’Enfant Jesus displays the aromatic complexity of a tobacconist’s along with a wide assortment of mouthwateringly ripe red berries and bittersweet hints of citrus oil. Sappy and bright yet richly-textured, and palate-staining in its persistent intensity of tobacco and red fruit, citrus oils, soy, and mineral salts, this superbly conveys the vibrancy of which 2008 is so notably capable, while displaying a plush sense of substantiality and ultra-fine tannins that are less common this year. I would plan to follow it for 15 or more years. Prost reports that the selection was especially rigorous this year, with most of the domaine’s Greves fruit being declassified into the Beaune du Chateau cuvee. Bouchard always presents this wine dead last in any line-up, regardless of the grand crus that might immediately precede it. While I usually list wines in the print edition of a report in the order in which they are served, I move the baby Jesus back to join its fellow Beaunes. That said, in this vintage, Bouchard’s point in serving it last is well-taken! 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

Good deep red-ruby. Expressive aromas of strawberry, redcurrant, minerals, tobacco and earth. Very rich, pliant and sweet, with deep redcurrant and tobacco flavors lingering impressively on the back end. This offers ideal ripeness, as there are neither the slightly dry notes of hail-affected C o te de Beaune wines nor the coolness of fruit that did not ripen properly.

Delicate and fragrant with a light touch of oak spice. Already so silky and elegant. Really long. (JH)