Anne Gros, Richebourg Grand Cru 2008

robert_parker93

Reviewed by: William Kelley

Surpassing the 2007, Anne Gros's 2008 Richebourg Grand Cru is showing very well, unfurling in the glass with scents of cassis, cherries, dried flowers, grilled meats and spices. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, ample and nicely concentrated, with melting tannins, racy acids that are elegantly cloaked in succulent fruit and a long, penetrating finish. It makes for dramatic, head-turning drinking today, so there seems little reason to wait.

robert_parker94

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

Tasted out of barrel at the Domaine. This already has a complex, well defined nose with a palpable sense of mineralite: blackberry leaf, a touch of black plum, crushed stones and just a touch of truffle. The palate is full-bodied, very strict and linear at the moment, but all its energy and puissance is focused in one direction. Real sense of terroir here, superb definition but also a very strict Richebourg that will needs a few years to open. Tasted November 2009.

robert_parker92

Reviewed by: David Schildknecht

Like a mingling of roasted lamb and beef marrow with lightly-cooked black raspberry, decadent flowers, brown spices, and caramel, Anne Gros’s 2008 Richebourg represents a meaty meal all its own. The suffusion of tannin here is as refined though more intense than in the corresponding Clos Vougeot, and this finishes with the vibratory energy displayed by so many of the best 2008s, here taking the form of a spice and fruit colloquy. What I miss here is quite the mouthwatering combination of mineral elements with carnal savor captured in the corresponding Clos Vougeot, but the meatiness certainly runs long and deep in this Richebourg. Here is one Gros 2008 that will deserve a few years of rest in the cellar and ought to perform well for at least 10-12 years. Anne Gros always tends to prefer a light touch with extraction. This applies to a set of 2008s that she bottled already in December and agrees will probably be best enjoyed on the early side (though I suspect she might find my suggestions a tad too conservative). She picked until quite late, though, and – relative to most of her colleagues – even later in 2007, from which unfortunately I did not get opportunity to taste her collection. “The past three vintages,” she notes – including 2009 in her comment – “I’ve taken three weeks to harvest six and a half hectares, and I now regret that in the previous years I started too late,” meaning it was impossible to take as much time as she prefers for her wide range of elevations and exposures with grapes both black and white. (In 2003, harvest took place the 25th through 28th of August, the earliest and fastest harvest in the history of the domaine, but one Gros says she hopes fervently never to have to relive.) In Clos Vougeot alone, Gros harvested for five full days in 2008. A Peter Vezan Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011 33 1 42 55 42 93

vinous94

Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer

Medium red, a bit less saturated than the Clos Vougeot. Deeper aromas of black raspberry, blueberry, flinty smoky minerality and pepper, along with a whiff of gamey reduction. Bigger, broader and sweeter than the Clos Vougeot, and amazingly supple and plump for a grand cru from this vintage, without any loss of shape. The back end is like a booster rocket of fruits and flowers, which cover the wine's acidity and noble tannins today. I'd love to taste this next to the Clos Vougeot in ten years' time.

vinous95

Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer

Good full red. At once primary and fully ripe on the nose, with sweet red raspberry and cherry aromas lifted by spices and an ineffable rose petal perfume. More densely packed than the Clos Vougeot, and holding more in reserve today. But this also boasts excellent energy and lift in the mouth. Finishes elegant and very long, with wonderfully silky tannins. These wines are now around 13.5% alcohol, following a half-degree to a full degree of chaptalization.