Burgundy | 2008 vintage
The 2008 Burgundy vintage was saved by a particularly sunny September. The spring and summer months were marked by contrasting weather conditions. Following a rainy April, May was warm and dry, with lots of sunshine. The rain came back at the start of June for the flowering season. The harvest was less abundant with small thick-skinned grapes. July and August were very wet, although the rain was interspersed with hot and sunny spells. At the end of July a hailstorm hit the Côte de Beaune and destroyed part of the harvest. Fortunately September was hot and dry with lots of sunshine, which allowed the grapes to reach a good level of ripeness and concentration. The best wines are those with small yields and a rigorous selection due to bad weather conditions. The wines are hence fresh and straight, particularly the whites. The Chablis wines are on the whole very good. Some of the red wines are slightly less fleshy than those from sunnier vintages, nevertheless, in their youth they have an extraordinarily mature fruit without a single trace of crudeness. Generally 2008 is a pleasant vintage to be drunk young. The wine-makers that were meticulous enough managed to make some very appealing reds, fresh and taut with a delicious fruity crunch to them. Nevertheless, the red wines are less homogeneous than the whites in terms of quality, and connoisseurs need to be selective when choosing these wines.
