Relive the Nightmare! 2008 Red & White Burgundy
BY NEAL MARTIN |
In early 2008, superstitious winemakers foresaw trouble ahead just by looking at the calendar. Eek! The year contained thirteen full moons. To a vigneron, this lunar portent is like spotting single magpie whilst walking under thirteen ladders on Friday 13th at 1:13pm. Naturally, I failed to heed this harbinger of doom, and that June, dragged my family (pregnant wife plus two-year old) for a fortnight of blistering sunshine down in Côte d’Or. So, whilst my daughter’s kindergarten chums were being entertained by Mickey Mouse at Disneyland, mine was appreciating the Guyot training method on yet another rainy afternoon in Gevrey. According to my diary, we saw blue skies on only one day.
When undertaking the marathon of domaine visits last autumn, I asked winemakers to open a bottle of 2008. There was no request for a specific cuvée and certainly nobody was obliged to open their grandest bottle. On the contrary, I sought a variety of climats dispersed at different status levels in order to obtain a balanced picture that would have been skewed focusing at either at the top or bottom end.
“Why 2008?” pleaded one winemaker. “Why do I have to relive the nightmare?”
Several asked that question. Why not a more fêted vintage, a banker like 2009?
Partly it was because I wanted to revisit an unpredictable vintage. It is more interesting to look back at less explored seasons, particularly one controversial upon release. If the wines were inconsistent at birth, then how had this played out? Has time been a healer? Or had it opened wounds?
