2008 Chassagne-Montrachet La Romanée 1er Cru

Like a number of his neighbors in Chassagne-Montrachet, Jean-Pierre Cournut is convinced that 2009 will be superb for red wine ("like 2005"); he's a little less quick to venture a judgment on the whites, but he says that the wines taste very good now. Cournut now does little or no batonnage-"just during the sugar fermentation." He told me he stopped stirring the lees with the 2008 vintage "to get fresher wines." The 2008s here are rich but lively; they typically convey an impression of sweet fruit but in fact they are extremely low in residual sugar. (Domaines et Saveurs/Jeanne-Marie de Champs; importers include Fine Vines, Melrose Park, IL; The Wine House Limited, San Francisco, CA; Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; and The Country Vintner, Oilville, VA)

Jean-Pierre Cournut described 2008 as "a miracle harvest, and a small crop of clean grapes." Three weeks earlier, he told me, the fruit wasn't ripe, and there was a serious threat of rot. He started picking on September 26, chaptalizing lightly across the board, even though grape sugars began in the mid 12s for the premier crus. "The 2008s are fatter, while the 2007s are more taut," he summarized. Most of the '08s had finished their malos and had been recently sulfured at the end of May. As I mentioned last year, Cournut harvested late in 2007 due to the timing of his anti-rot spraying, and the wines I sampled seemed the better for this strategy. With the exception of the Vigne Blanche, all the 2007s were bottled last September. Cournut prefers to use a higher percentage of new oak but a shorter elevage than many of his colleagues. In fact, the lesser premier crus here get 20% new barrels, with La Romanee, Grandes Ruchottes and Dents de Chien getting 60% and the Batard-Montrachet aged in 100% new barriques. (Domaines et Saveurs/Jeanne-Marie de Champs; importers include Fine Vines, Melrose Park, IL; The Wine House Limited, San Francisco, CA; Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; and The Country Vintner, Oilville, VA)