Robert Parker has revealed his scores for the 2008 vintage, and his assessment is glowing, “with a number of superb wines that are close to, if not equal to the prodigious 2005 or 2000 vintages”:
“It did not take me long to realize that the 2008 vintage was dramatically better than I had expected. It had all the qualities that make an excellent and in some cases, a great vintage so special: exceptionally dark opaque colors, gorgeously ripe fruit, stunning purity almost across the board, great freshness (because it was a cool year), slightly higher acids than normal, and remarkable density as well as concentration. Moreover, one of the significant keys to evaluating quality is the maturity of the tannins. In 2008, the tannins are unusually velvety, even in wines that may lack concentration.” Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate
The release of these scores has driven up prices for the high-scoring wines and sparked a flurry of activity in Bordeaux – today we have six new releases. To start, we have a pair of great value St-Estèphes, Meyney and Cos-Labory, both of which impressed us this year. Moving up a division, Gazin is a Pomerol very much to the liking of Mr Parker yet at £300 a case looks a good buy.
We also have both the very good value red and the delicious, sought-after white of Domaine de Chevalier, a top Pessac-Léognan property with a sizeable Majestic following. Completing today’s releases we have just a handful of cases of Vieux-Château-Certan, one of Pomerol’s most sought-after wines.
Château Meyney 2008 St-Estèphe 12 x 75cl, £172
Château Cos Labory 2008 St-Estèphe, 5ème Cru Classé 12 x 75cl, £175
Domaine de Chevalier Rouge 2008 Pessac-Léognan 12 x 75cl, £290
Château Gazin 2008 Pomerol 12 x 75cl, £300
Vieux-Château-Certan 2008 Pomerol 6 x 75cl, £237
Domaine de Chevalier Blanc 2008 Pessac-Léognan 6 x 75cl, £275
Customers should read our vintage report, and be familiar with the timetable for Bordeaux 2008 before purchasing. En Primeur wines are priced for in-bond delivery and do not include duty, VAT and handling.
