2008 Chambolle-Musigny Village

A brilliant career as a wine writer awaits long-time oenologist François Millet should he ever tire of making wine. Millet's visual descriptions of vintages and wines are among the most colorful I have ever encountered. The truth is that these wines need no words at all; the quality of what is in the glass speaks for itself far more eloquently than words ever could. De Vogüé's 2009s are remarkable for their textural richness, depth and pure breed. In 2009 Millet started picking on September 9 in order to keep as much as freshness as possible. The fruit was 100% destemmed. New oak ranged from 15% for the Chambolle villages to 35-40% for the Bonnes Mares and Musigny Vieilles Vignes. The malos were on the slow side and for the most part did not begin until April 2010. Unfortunately I was not able to taste the 2009 Chambolle-Musigny and Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru and as they were bottled just prior to my visit. I did have a chance to taste most of the 2008s. In many ways the 2008s offer better balance than the 2009s because the vintage characteristics play off the house style of textural richness, resulting in marvelous, totally complete wines. In 2008 the harvest began on September 27, quite a bit later than in 2009. A cool growing season was saved by perfect conditions that began on September 13 and continued through to the end of the harvest.

"I'm not convinced that our terroirs need so much phenolic ripeness," said enologist Francois Millet, noting that 2008 brought normal skin ripeness and "true maturity." Potential alcohols were in the healthy 12.5% to 13% range and no chaptalization was done, according to Millet. As ambient temperatures were cool at the time of the harvest, the fermentations took a full week to start and then proceeded slowly. "This gave enough roundness to the wines to balance their freshness," said Millet. "Although the vintage is high in acidity and low in pH you don't really feel the acidity. There's a syrup fruit character in 2008, and it's difficult to get fruit character that's sweeter than syrup." In comparison, he added, the fruit in 2007 is more candied, and the wines from the earlier vintage are "direct, but also refined." The 2008s show the "flowers of afternoon," which are much sweeter, while the 2007s display the flowers of morning, adds Millet. (Dreyfus-Ashby, New York, NY; Ideal Wines & Spirits, Medford, MA; Chambers & Chambers, San Francisco, CA; The Wine Company, St. Paul, MN)