x
  • Country ranking ?

    602
  • Producer ranking ?

    97
  • Decanting time

    3h
  • When to drink

    now to 2040
  • Food Pairing

    Carpaccio of scallops & rock salt

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

Close

eParker 98 points: The 2008 Montrachet is simply off the charts. Where to start? Layers of fruit literally explode in the glass as the wine conquers all of the senses. The aromatics alone are breathtaking, while the fruit shows striking nuance and transparency. But those descriptors totally fail to capture what is in the glass. This is one of the most moving young wines I have ever tasted. The 2008 is rich, seductive and powerful, but never heavy. Finely chiseled mineral nuances saturate the palate all the way through to the intensely saline finish. When I think of what I want Montrachet to be, it is this. The 2008 Montrachet is an aspirational wine in the very best sense. Ideally another few years in bottle will help the wine become even more expressive and several decades of profound drinking seem likely. Wow! Anticipated maturity: 2018+.

Close

The Story

The Montrachet family consists of grand five Grands Crus grown in the two villages of Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet. These two share the Montrachet and Bâtard-Montrachet appellations. Chevalier and Bienvenues belong to Puligny, Criots belongs to Chassagne. These Grands Crus are the most southerly of the Côte-d'Or, and lie between Meursault in the north and Santenay in the south. Their origins go back to the Middle Ages - the work of the Cistercian abbey of Maizières and the Lords of Chagny. The wines of Montrachet (pronounced Mon-rachay) came fully into their own in the 17th century. There is no argument : this is the finest expression of the Chardonnay grape anywhere on earth. The Grand Cru appellations date from 31 July, 1937.

 

The underlying rocks date from the Jurassic, 175 million years BC. Exposures lie to the east and the south. Altitudes: 265-290 metres (Chevalier) ; 250-270 metres (Montrachet) ; 240-250 metres (Bâtard, Bienvenues, Criots). In the " Climat " of Montrachet, the soils are thinnish and lie on hard limestone traversed by a band of reddish marl. In Chevalier, the soils are thin and stony rendzinas derived from marls and marly-limestones. In the Bâtard " climat " soils are brown limestone which are deeper and, at the foot of the slope, more clayey. 

 

The power and aromatic persistence of these lofty wines demands aristocratic and sophisticated dishes with complex textures : « pâté » made from fattened goose liver, of course, and caviar. Lobster, crawfish, and large wild prawns, with their powerful flavours and firm textures, pay well-deserved homage to the wine and match its opulence. Firm-fleshed white fish such as monkfish would be equally at home in their company. And let us not forget well-bred and well-fattened free-range poultry whose delicate flesh, with the addition of a cream-and-mushroom sauce, will be lapped up in the unctuous and noble texture of this wine. Even a simple piece of veal, fried or in sauce, would be raised to heavenly heights by the Montrachet's long and subtle acidity.

Serving temperature : 12 to 14 °C.

 


 

 

Close

Wine Information

2008 Harvest

The weather sometimes makes it as hard and complicated to give birth to a new vintage as it must be to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs. 2008 will remain a concentrated demonstration of how difficult, fascinating and also rewarding it is to be a vigneron in Burgundy.

We first became aware of these difficulties on Palm Sunday when a firm West wind blew for the whole week-end. The wind that blows on that day remains, practically every year, the dominant wind of the season. West wind brings rain. We knew then that we were heading for a challenging vintage. But at the same time, the cool spring weather helped the vines to produce grapes with small clusters and, most important, a lot of "millerand" berries: grapes ideally built to make a great vintage.

The flowering was late compared to most recent vintages. It began on June 1st and took three weeks to be completed. As a result, the veraison, two months later, also took three weeks. This was a setback, but the grapes still had their "great vintage" structure.

Unfortunately in June, July and August, the West winds brought frequent rain. This made the vines subject to attacks of all sorts: mildew, oidium and later botrytis. We managed to fight these victoriously while entirely keeping to our organic methods. This meant that we had to be ready to intervene every time the weather would offer us a "window". Any wrong step would have been severely punished.

Nature's last wicked attack was the severe rain it brought the second week of September. Botrytis was progressing and, if this weather had continued, we would have run the risk of losing the entire crop. It is at this time that, once more, what we call the "burgundian miracle" came to the rescue. From the morning of Sunday, September 14th, after the last day of rain on Saturday, the North wind set in, strong, cold, exhilarating for us as well as for the grapes. With it came a succession of cold nights and luminous days. This had a brutal effect on the botrytis causing it to dry up rapidly. The maturation slowly progressed and, under the action of the North wind, sugar and acidity were spectacularly concentrated. It is to be noted that these climatic conditions are quite similar to 1996 and had the same effect: a fast increase of the sugar content and a concentration of the acidity.

We waited until the end of September to pick, letting our grapes benefit for as long as possible from the wind and sun to heal their wounds. When we decided to pick on September 27th, the vines were at the end of their vegetative cycle. There was nothing more to gain. Botrytis was still there, but dry. It was up to our team of pickers to do the "haute couture" work of sorting that we have trained them to do.

It was hard work and a good part of the crop was left on the ground or discarded from the sorting table. The grapes that ended up in the vats were of the finest quality: small clusters and small black berries showing some of the highest sugar contents of these last years, as well as the high acidities that make long-ageing wines.

With a little more luck or help from the weather in July and August, 2008 could have been one of the greatest vintages ever. But with the help of the dry conditions in the 2nd part of September, we believe that we have saved the "heart" of the crop and that the grapes we have so carefully picked will show, if not all, at least a good part of their initial potential. Once more, in Burgundy 2008 is a "millésime de vigneron".

Here are the harvest dates and approximate yields:

Harvest dates Yields
Echezeaux ......................... Oct. 4th, 5th&6th ................ 18 hl/ha
Grands-Echezeaux ............ Oct. 4th ............................... 19 hl/ha
Romanée-St-Vivant .......... Sept. 30th, Oct. 1st&2nd ...... 18 hl/ha
Richebourg ....................... Sept. 29th&30th ................... 15 hl/ha
La Tâche ........................... Sept. 27th, 28th&29th .......... 16 hl/ha
Romanée-Conti ................. Sept. 30th ............................ 16 hl/ha

Montrachet was harvested on October 1st.

Contrary to the red wines where the yield, as shown above, is extremely reduced, the crop of Montrachet is normal (40 hl/ha). We had some noble botrytis, a lot of "millerand" berries and as a result, a high concentration of sugar. 2008 should produce very good white wines and a particularly great Montrachet. In the barrels the fermenting must shows already some penetrating aromas of sweet honey.

The vinifications have been oenological examples. The grapes being taken cold to the winery, the vats "simmered" for a good week before starting the fermentations. These lasted over three weeks and proceeded ideally: slow and regular increase of temperatures, good extraction of colour and tannins, winery full of penetrating aromas.

We have waited for the first "devattings" to be finished to send you this report. The colours are a bright and healthy red. Aromas are fine, delicate and noble. The first wines show a good minerality and a promising depth. It would be surprising if the North wind at the end of the season did not bring some firmness to the wines, but it is truly after the malolactic - which we shall certainly not hasten - that we shall be able to evaluate the real balance these wines have.

Close

Vintage 2008

 An indifferent spring caused uneven flowering and mildew risk. At the end of June the weather changed for the better, continuing into July. Apart from local hail in the Côte de Beaune at the end of July, the summer began well. August arrived fairly cold and variable, but fortunately the last week of the month brought fine, warm weather. The lead-up to harvest saw sunny skies, apart from two days of rain in mid-September. A challenging vintage.

From day one the red wines have had a rich, pure fruit character with fine, silky tannins. The whites offer a good balance between ripe fruit and vibrant acidity. A vintage not to be overlooked because the wines deliver potential and pleasure.  

Close

Average Bottle Price

2015 2014 2013 2012 2011
4 290€ +17.5% 3 650€ -6.9% 3 922€ +65.0% 2 377€ -27.8% 3 290€

This data comes from the FINE Auction Index, a composite of average prices for wines sold at commercial auctions in 20 countries. The average prices from each year have been collected since 1990. This chart plots the index value of the average price of the wines.

Latest Pro-tasting notes

25 tasting notes

Tasting note

color

Deep, Yellow and Healthy

ending

Long, Extensive and Lingering

flavors

Vanilla, Mineral, Truffles, Floral, Citrus and Tropical fruits

nose

Intense, Opulent, Ripe and Generous

recommend

Yes

taste

Perfectly balanced, Concentrated, Complex, Full-bodied, Round, Focused and Vigor

Verdict

Intelligent and Well made

Written Notes

A magnum of 2008 DRC Montrachet was brought unexpectedly by our ‘supplier’ for the event, just because that’s the type of guy this Midwest Master of Wine is.  Remember, sharing is caring!!!  It was a perfect bottle of this wine, and everything you could ask for in a young DRC Monty.  Rich, sweet and buttery, this was long and fat with flavors of rainwater and honey.  This was just a delicious wine, and ready to go out of magnum, ‘exotic’ per Hollywood Jef.  It had a lemon finger finish, and it got stronger as its peacock tail started to fan.  Somehow, this massively great wine managed to maintain a feminine personality, but maybe it’s just because I love the ladies.  Make that I only love one lady lol (96M).

  • 96p

The 2008 Montrachet is one of the more overtly exotic wines in this tasting. Heavily botrytised notes come through in waves of apricot and orange marmalade, smoke, spices, orange peel and crème brulée. The rich, unctuous style might not appeal to all readers, but I find the 2008 overwhelmingly beautiful. The 2008 is a brash, almost arrogant wine that grabs the taster by the throat and demands attention. Mission accomplished. This is a superb showing from the 2008.

  • 97p
Good looking normal size bottle, in an perfect condition and has by the neck level. Colour is yellow, and looking bright, healthy and deep. On the nose it is open, intense, youthful, opulent, ripe and generous. The taste is fresh, focused, fruity, fragrant, full-bodied, with good texture, perfectly balanced, complex and concentrated structure. On the palate it is layered and has mineral, tropical fruits, truffles, vanilla, floral, white fruits and citrus flavours. The finish is long, extensive, lingering and vibrant. This wine is intelligent, excellent and fine. I paid around 3k-5k€ a bottle. Perfectly stored bottles are still very worthy and will last well for another 20-30 years and decant at least 2h before tasting. I do recommend.
- (Tasting note created by Tb's AI)
  • 96p
Load more notes

Information

Origin

Vosne-Romanée, Burgundy

Vintage Quality

Excellent

Value For Money

Good

Investment potential

Good

Fake factory

None

Other wines from this producer

Bâtard-Montrachet

Corton-Charlemagne

Corton Grand Cru

Echézeaux

Grands Echézeaux

La Romanée-Conti Grand Cru

La Tâche

Les Gaudichots

Marc

Richebourg

Romanée Conti

Romanee Saint Vivant

Vosne Romanée

Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Cuvée Duvault Blochet

Incorrect Information
If you found some information that is wrong, let us know
Are you sure you want do delete this wine? All information will be lost.
Are you sure you want to recommend this wine?
Are you sure you want hide this written note ?
Are you sure you want show this written note ?
UPGRADE MEMBER PLAN
Upgrade your membership now, it's quick and easy. We use PayPal, the world's largest payment system, it accepts all credit cards. Once you've chosen your membership level, you'll go directly to PayPal. You can cancel your membership at any time.
Thank you for your support!
 

Pro Member

 

Winemerchant Member

 

Winery Member

 

User

 

HOW TO USE TASTINGBOOK?

We recommend you to share few minutes for watching the following video instructions of how to use the Tastingbook. This can provide you a comprehensive understanding of all the features you can find from this unique service platform.

This video will help you get started



Taste wines with the Tastingbook


Create Your wine cellar on 'My Wines'



Explore Your tasted wines library



Administrate Your wine world in Your Profile



Type a message ...
Register to Tastingbook
Sign up now, it's quick and easy.
We use PayPal, the world's largest payment system, it accepts all credit cards.
Once you've chosen your membership level, you'll go directly to PayPal, where you can sign up for a free 7-day trial period. You can cancel your membership at any time. We wish you a rewarding journey to the world of Fine Wines.

Free 7 days Member trial

 

Member

 

Pro Member

 

Winemerchant Member

 

Winery Member

 

User

  Register