2008 Pommard Les Pezerolles

Ripe dark plum; pungent peat and wood smoke; blond tobacco, Szechuan pepper, and vivid nutmeg alluringly scent the Voillot 2008 Pommard Pezerolles, then re-emerge on a palate of refined tannins and juicy exuberance, with suggestions of peat and iron filings conveying a site typical mineral message. This is so texturally refined as to be positively silken. It should be well worth following for 12-15 years. ”The domaines that work seriously and well in their vineyards are the ones who succeeded in 2006, 2007, and 2008,” maintains Jean-Pierre Charlot’s, who claims to have been pleasantly surprised not to have encountered significant problems with mildew, oidium, or botrytis in 2008. His 2007s are unusually successful in the context of that vintage, with which he draws parallels to 2009 in that he thinks later harvest at the expense of freshness and early, weak malo that left wines vulnerable during elevage were significant potential pitfalls. When it comes to difficult conditions and problematic results, he insists, none of the subsequent vintages should be compared with 2004. As usual at this address, Charlot was happy to have obtained potential alcohol levels of 12-12.5% in both 2007 and 2008, which he then lightly boosted. His 2008 collection – in which the Pommards, unusually in my experience at Voillot, outshone the Volnays – was due to have been bottled within 2-3 weeks after I tasted it in March. Importer: Vintage 59, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 966-9218