2008 Beaune Teurons

Clean raw meatiness, blackberry, and beet root dominate the Morot 2008 Beaune Teurons, whose abundant tannins are finer-grained and fruit sweeter than those of several stable mates. These aspects might in part be attributable to the high, breeze-exposure site, less because the location would have accentuated the windy concentration of late September than because it would have helped ward-off rot in the weeks prior. Hints of leather, tobacco, and salt add savory complexity to a wine that should reward cellaring for at least a decade. Geoffrey Choppin de Janvry was among those growers to report that more rigorous sorting was required for his 2008 fruit than had been needed the previous vintage. I tasted his 2008s from tank, where they were spending a bit longer than usual, in order to gas-out after very late malos. Imported by Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 832 9083

Good dark red. Wild aromas of medicinal red cherry, brown spices and meat, with a suggestion of exotic fruits. Dense, deep and savory, with a mineral complexity that goes beyond the other 2008s here. Big, rich and lightly saline wine with the flesh to support its tannins; in fact, I can't recall a vintage in which Morot's Teurons showed suppler tannins at this stage than the Bressandes. Vibrant and fine-grained wine with excellent mouth coverage. This was the ripest cru in 2008, coming in with 13% potential alcohol.