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 For sweet wine lovers, it can be hard to beat the botrytised Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon blends of Sauternes and Barsac. For these appellations, 2008 is a very solid vintage, though not in the league of 2007, 2005 or 2001.  
"The quality is there, but not the quantity, due to spring frost," say Aline Baly of Château Coutet in Barsac, whose 2008 scored an outstanding 90 points ($68). "It's a fresh vintage that will probably progress a little faster than '09."
(...)The Château Coutet Barsac Cuvée Madame 1997 (93, $300) comprises just 133 cases. The 100 percent Sémillon cuvée shows impressive depth and power while still staying fresh, with notes of blood orange and date...

Despite a difficult growing season in 2008, there are some fine Bordeaux at attractive prices - James Molesworth - Issue: May 31, 2011

Simply put, Bordeaux escaped in 2008. The uninspiring growing season didn't get rolling until the very end, when the vintage was saved by an Indian summer in the latter half of September. The result is an inconsistent batch of wines. But because the economic free fall forced most prices lower, there are attractive values at many quality levels.

France's largest and most visible wine region clearly struggled in 2008. Of the more than 650 red 2008 Bordeaux reviewed for this tasting report, only 134, or 20 percent, earned an outstanding rating (90 points or better on Wine Spectator's 100-point scale), and no wines earned a classic rating of 95 points or higher.

"I'd put '08 ahead of '02 for sure and maybe [ahead of] '07. But that's it for vintages in this decade," says Jean-Philippe Delmas, director of famed sister châteaus Haut-Brion (92, $500) and La Mission Haut-Brion (90, $226) in Pessac-Léognan.

With quality suffering, the main lure that the 2008 wines hold for Bordeaux lovers is pricing. Some of the prestige properties still carry lofty price tags, but many others are more modest. Some châteaus even priced their wines equal to or lower than what they asked for their 2007s, a weaker vintage than '08; estates in this category include Château Léoville Barton and Château Langoa Barton, both owned by Anthony Barton. Other good deals that typify the vintage's appeal include Château Brown Pessac-Léognan 2008 (91, $35), Château Fleur Cardinale St.-Emilion 2008 (91, $36) and Château d'Aiguilhe Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux 2008 (90, $22).

Combining the blind-tastings done in Bordeaux with those conducted in our New York office, we have now reviewed more than 700 red, white and sweet Bordeaux bottlings from the '08 vintage. A free alphabetical list of all wines tasted is available.

The reds are the most inconsistent of the three groups, but generally are better in the Right Bank appellations than in the Left Bank/Médoc appellations. Overall, I rate the '08 vintage for Right Bank wines 88 points, or very good, while the Left Bank is a step behind, earning an 87-point rating. The vintage's dry whites, however, are generally excellent, with superfresh acidity and bright citrus flavors. The sweet wines of Sauternes and Barsac also performed well; they earn an overall vintage rating of 90 points.

Leading the way among the reds are the Château Latour Pauillac 2008 (94, $1,250), its fellow first-growth Château Mouton-Rothschild Pauillac 2008 (94, $1,155) and Latour's next-door neighbor, Château Léoville Las Cases St.-Julien (94, $167). The Château Ausone St.-Emilion 2008 (94, $1,200) represents the top-scoring Right Bank wine of the vintage. The rest of the group of top '08 reds is dominated by the Right Bank appellations of Pomerol and St.-Emilion.

"The Bordelais will tell you it's a classic vintage," says Jean-Luc Thunevin, with a wry smile. "It's not a great vintage though. It's a good vintage, with freshness and acidity. The good news is we have '09 and '10 right behind it," he adds, referring to the powerful duo of vintages that is shaping up to be another high-water mark for the region.

Thunevin is known for speaking his mind, so it's no surprise he doesn't mince words on '08. As the owner of St.-Emilion's leading garagiste property, Château Valandraud, Thunevin is well-situated on the Right Bank, the favored side of Bordeaux in '08. Thunevin's Château Valandraud St.-Emilion 2008 (91, $220) is one of the leading wines in the appellation, while his Ets Thunevin Bordeaux Mauvais Garçon 2008 (88, $33) is one of the fine values.

Other top St.-Emilions include Château Cheval-Blanc (93, $549), Château Pavie (93, $192) and La Mondotte (93, $160). The Château Canon-La Gaffelière St.-Emilion 2008 (93, $57) represents one of the great pricing deals of the vintage. All told, there were 148 St.-Emilions reviewed for this report, with 45, or nearly one-third, earning outstanding ratings.

Pomerol, just next door, also produced many of the highlights of the vintage. Château Clinet Pomerol 2008 (93, $93), Château L'Evangile Pomerol (93, $120), Château Le Pin Pomerol 2008 (93, $NA) and Château Pétrus Pomerol 2008 (93, $3,000) vie for top honors. The Château Petit-Village Pomerol 2008 (92, $45) is one of the top values. Of the 46 Pomerols tasted for this report, 31 of them earn outstanding ratings.

"Due to the cool growing season, it was easier for the Merlot [compared to the Cabernet Sauvignon] to reach full maturity," says Christian Moueix, a leading producer whose collection of elite properties in both Pomerol and St.-Emilion includes Trotanoy (92, $240), La Fleur-Pétrus (91, $125), Bélair-Monange (89, $200) and Magdelaine (89, $65). Indeed, the cool, wet weather persisted through August and into early September; the growing season had higher-than-usual disease pressures and the crop struggled to ripen fully and consistently.

Like Delmas, Moueix takes a conservative approach in assessing the vintage now, ranking it behind 2000, '01, '03 and '05 on the Right Bank specifically; he did not wish to rank it vis-à-vis the Left Bank until the wines have evolved more in bottle.

For values, look to the satellite appellations surrounding St.-Emilion and Pomerol. There, lesser prestige results in many wines with tantalizing quality-to-price ratios. Inconsistent and less powerful vintages such as '08 are far less forgiving on the terroir of these satellite appellations and petit châteaux, though, so do choose carefully. The La Fleur de Boüard Lalande-de-Pomerol 2008 (90, $29), Château Soleil Lussac-St.-Emilion Croix du Rival 2008 (89, $22) and Château St.- André Corbin St.-Georges-St.-Emilion 2008 (88, $20) offer solid value.

For other rewarding values, try tracking down the wines from well-situated properties in Fronsac, such as Château Dalem Fronsac 2008 (90, $25), which delivers a beam of focused red fruit and taut minerality.

The vast tract of Bordeaux AOC wedged between the Gironde and Dordogne can also be plumbed for value in 2008. Look for the Château Jean Faux Bordeaux Supérieur 2008 (88, $28); sourced from vineyards on a hillside just outside the town of Ste.-Radegonde, on the southern side of the Dordogne river across from St.-Emilion, it provides plush, dark currant and licorice notes. To read more about Château Jean Faux, and other value Bordeaux from all around this massive region, see the profiles beginning on page 55.

While the Right Bank's reliance on Merlot gives it a leg up in '08, the Left Bank does have its high points. The tricky August and early September weather were far from ideal for producing top-quality Cabernet Sauvignon, but a stretch of good weather in July proved key for the growing season.

"The Cabernet Sauvignon was saved by the weather during the end of September for sure. But July was very nice too. It was warm and quite dry and that is a key period for the phenolic production of Cabernet," says Thomas Duroux, director at Château Palmer in Margaux. "High phenolic potential is good for avoiding rot, because that means the skins are thicker. So that, combined with good weather at the end, saved the vintage."

The Château Palmer Margaux 2008 (91, $172) rivals its neighbor, famed first-growth Château Margaux Margaux 2008 (91, $600) in the vintage. Château Rauzan-Ségla (90, $72), Marojallia (90, $NA) and Château Grand Tayac (90, $49) also produced outstanding '08 Margaux bottlings, with the wines showing perfumy fruit, silky and refined tannins and none of the crisp angularity that plagues many Left Bank wines in '08.

"I would put [the '08 vintage] on a level with '06, with '08 having a little more finesse," says Duroux. "2008 might surprise in terms of aging, as they may last for 10, 15 to 20 years. But '08 certainly won't ever develop the complexity or length of '09 or '10."

St.-Julien, one of the smallest of the major Left Bank appellations, with just 2,272 acres, has a high number of tightly clustered classified-growths. It's the sweet spot for Cabernet lovers in '08. Nearly half of the 22 St.-Juliens tasted earned outstanding marks, a performance that sets it apart from the pack. The Château Ducru-Beaucaillou St.-Julien 2008 (92, $117), Château Léoville Barton St.-Julien 2008 (91, $62) and Château Beychevelle St.-Julien 2008 (90, $41) are among the highlights of a group of wines that should be the most long-lived of the vintage, with the potential to be cellared for 10 to 20 years, depending on how mature you prefer your wines.

Moving farther north through the Médoc, Château Lafite Rothschild Pauillac 2008 (92, $2,000) and Château Pontet-Canet Pauillac 2008 (92, $105), along with Châteaus Lynch Bages (91, $75), Pichon Longueville Lalande (91, $94) and Pichon-Longueville Baron (91, $81) performed well. From Mouton-Rothschild's sister properties, the Château Clerc Milon Pauillac 2008 (90, $43) and Château d'Armailhac Pauillac 2008 (89, $38) are two of the better values in Pauillac as general director Philippe Dhalluin deftly handled the difficult season.

In St.-Estèphe, the Château Montrose St.-Estèphe 2008 (91, $100) and Château Cos-d'Estournel St.-Estèphe 2008 (90, $135) were the lone outstanding bottlings, while the Château Lilian Ladouys St.-Estèphe 2008 (89, $18) is a superb value and a property on the rise thanks to the efforts of director Frédéric Boisseau and his team.

White wines are far more consistent than reds in '08. At their best, as with the Château Haut-Brion Pessac-Léognan White 2008 (94, $420) and Château Brown Pessac-Léognan White 2008 (93, $37), they provide long, lush flavors of verbena, straw, chamomile, quinine and melon that can age gracefully for a decade. Château de Fieuzal (91, $58), Château Malartic-Lagravière (91, $80), Château Pape Clément (91, $190) and Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte (91, $80), among others, also produced excellent dry whites.

However, the pronounced acidity that keeps many of the reds crisp and angular had the effect of unbalancing some of the whites; citrus notes are refreshing in many of the Sauvignon Blanc-based blends, but some are overtly green, lean and tart.

For sweet wine lovers, it can be hard to beat the botrytised Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon blends of Sauternes and Barsac. For these appellations, 2008 is a very solid vintage, though not in the league of 2007, 2005 or 2001.
 
"The quality is there, but not the quantity, due to spring frost," say Aline Baly of Château Coutet in Barsac, whose 2008 scored an outstanding 90 points ($68). "It's a fresh vintage that will probably progress a little faster than '09."
 
In general, the wines are marked by tangy acidity and while not broadly sweet, some are showy enough. The 2008 Sauternes from Château Guiraud (92, $50), Château Rieussec (92, $65) and Château Suduiraut (92, $65) lead the way, followed by more perennial top names, including, at 91 points each, Barsacs from Château Climens ($107), Château Doisy Daëne ($NA) and Château Doisy-Védrines ($37). Neither Château d'Yquem nor Château de Fargues were bottled in time for this report, but barrel tastings of each of these Sauternes showed them as potentially among the best wines of the vintage.

Some sweet wine producers also vinify a very small stock of late-release wine. Two bottlings that are just being released merit attention from trophy hunters. The Château Coutet Barsac Cuvée Madame 1997 (93, $300) comprises just 133 cases. The 100 percent Sémillon cuvée shows impressive depth and power while still staying fresh, with notes of blood orange and date. The Château Gilette Sauternes Crème de Tête 1989 (94, $220, 400 cases) shows a more traditional profile, with exotic dried apricot, marzipan, green tea and dried mango. An iconoclastic property, Gilette produces just the one wine and always releases very late.

A bottle of either will be a sweet salve while you wait for the very impressive '09 and '10 vintages for red Bordeaux.

Senior editor James Molesworth is Wine Spectator's lead taster on the wines of Bordeaux.
by James Molesworth