2008 Savigny Les Beaune Les Grands Liards

Black pepper and herbs lend pungency to the nose and tactilely impinge on the lean palate of Bize’s 2008 Savigny-les-Beaune Aux Grands Liards, allied to tart but juicy sour cherry, and in a penetrating finish to salt, chalk, and piquancy of cherry pit. Last tasted from tank, this displays taut, energetic, athletic leanness and will I suspect evolve interestingly and more generously over the coming decade. Patrick Bize’s 2008s did not finish their malos until they were one year old, a statistic only slightly less startling given the vintage than it would otherwise be. (By contrast – and again, not all that exceptionally for their vintage – the 2009s had, despite Bize’s notoriously cold cellars, already done malo by February … the February after harvest, that is!) This domaine has long and with good reason counted as one of its village’s top performers – if not number one – and while its collections in 2008 and 2007 do not approach the superb quality achieved here in 2005, young Bize wines – like the man himself – are lean, sinewy, frequently understated yet incisive, and have a habit of making fools of their critics. They often “come from behind” in ostensibly “lesser” vintages, and not only the 2008s here but also the surprisingly energetic, focused 2007s should prove fascinating and rewarding to follow over the coming decade. A Becky Wassserman Selection (various importers), Le Serbet, Beaune; fax 011-33-3-80-24-29-70