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That Was.....2008

As always, I'm taking a little time-out at the end of another year to look back and determine my favourite wine-related moments of the 2008 vintage (and also, as in the box to the right, to look forward to 2009). Most importantly, it is a chance to reflect on some great bottles and to choose my most memorable wines of the year.

As I looked back through my notes I began - as I think I have done before - in a slightly negative frame of mind, expecting it to be a fruitless search. It is remarkable how, for me, the memories of even the most fabulous bottles can fade so quickly. Within a few minutes of beginning I realised that 2008 had in fact been a very successful year. Whereas 2007 was one where I concentrated on Bordeaux profiles (with over 100 profiles new or updated) and my Bordeaux guide, hopefully consolidating this site's position as a useful Bordeaux resource, 2008 has been a year characterised by tasting, tasting and more tasting. During the year I have put a lot of time in consolidating my tasting experience, not only expanding my knowledge of the world's wines, but also providing a broader and more valid context against which I can view my favourite wines.

These tastings have meant 2008 has been an extraordinarily busy year, with notes from more than 32 events added to the site, more than in 2007 and 2006 combined. These include notes on Bordeaux, including the 2007, 2006, 2004, 2001 and 1998 vintages, as well as the wines of Mouton-Rothschild, Jean-Luc Thunevin and Pierre Lurton, and also a comparative tasting at Pichon-Baron of Les Tourelles de Longueville 2004 under cork and screwcap. The Loire has also naturally featured, with an extensive look at Project Cabernet Franc, the 2008 reincarnation of my 2005 Loire Extravaganza (next one 2011?) and a look at new releases from Charles Joguet. Other regions also get a look in, not only the Rhône, with my 1998 vintage and Vignobles Brunier tastings, but also  Beaujolais, Champagne, Germany, New Zealand, South Africa and Portugal.

As always the site has been dotted with other new features here and there. Earlier on in the year I finished the aforementioned Bordeaux guide, and there have been new book reviews and restaurant reviews, and I will continue to add to these sections in 2009, most notably with planned visits to both Kitchin and Martin Wishart's, two leading Edinburgh dining venues.

There is much more I could draw your attention to, not least the large number of wines from UK merchants I have reviewed over the year, from the likes of Cadman Fine Wines, Liberty Wines, Laithwaites, Champers, Yapp, Lay & Wheeler, FromVineyardsDirect, Woodwinters and more. And my wine of the week remains popular, it seems, as I discovered when I wrote of Cognard-Taluau's 2005 Bourgueil St Nicolas de Bourgueil Les Malgagnes. More on that below.

And that is that. Another year of wine-rich information draws to a close. I am afraid I can't offer you any anecdotes of Broadbent's latest misdemeanour or moment of dinnertime hilarity, nor any convincing celebrity name-dropping (unless Pierre Lurton counts) or salacious comments on well-known vignerons. Thank heavens....this is a site that remains focused on wine, rather than the strange cult of wine-writer-as-celebrity which I see on some other sites. So, with that thought in mind, let us move onto the wines and my other highly-coveted Winedoctor awards. (30/12/08)

Winedoctor Wines of the Year

White: Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Spätlese 2007

Tasting the German wines of the 2007 vintage at the German ambassadors' residence in London was a new experience for me this year. It was a charming venue and the quality of wines on show was very high. Any number of wines impressed, but the most ethereal was from Dönnhoff. The three also rans for top white are:

• Gunderloch Nackenheim Rothenberg Riesling Spätlese 2001
  From a more mature vintage than the Dönnhoff, although this still has years in front of it yet. Good job I have some more in the cellar.
• Domaine de Chevalier Blanc 2006
  Second year running for Domaine de Chevalier, the 2006 outclassing the 2005, featured last year, by just a shade.
• Henri Bourgeois Sancerre d'Antan 2005
  A real powerhouse of a Sancerre, I tried to buy more of this only to find it had sold out. That says a lot!

Red: Mouton Rothschild 2005

Always a difficult choice, I have not been so successful in narrowing my selection down to the customary four wines, as there were at least a dozen valid contenders. I appreciate that Mouton has its detractors, who like to point out its inadequacies compared with Latour and Lafite. Nevertheless, the 2005 Mouton was amazing when tasted early in the year, as were a number of other vintages, including the 1996. As the line-up was so strong, I have allowed myself four rather than three also-rans; all young wines, they are:

• Real de Asúa Rioja 2001
  From a great vintage for Rioja, from CVNE. In a line-up of excellent wines, including both the 1998 Viña Real and Imperial Gran Reservas, this wine really shone.
• Le Pin 2006
  I visited Le Pin in April 2008, during the annual en primeur circus. What can I say? I tasted two vintages, and the 2006 was just the more stunning of the two.
• Clos Rougeard Saumur-Champigny Le Bourg 2003
  Following my failed attempt to visit the Foucault brothers this year, as documented in my profile, I shall have to console myself with this great bottle.
• Margaux 2004
  The IMW 2004 claret tasting was a delight; an opportunity to taste Haut-Brion, La Mission, Lafite, Mouton, Margaux and Cheval-Blanc all on the same day isn't a frequent occurrence. Of these bottles, Margaux eclipsed them all.

Fizz: Bollinger Grande Année 1990

The 1990 vintage has yielded many of my favourite fizzes in recent years; I have previously featured in this very spot the 1990 incarnations of Dom Ruinart, Dom Pérignon, Perrier Jouët Belle Epoque and Pol Roger. Other impressive wines were:

• Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs 1995
  A previous winner, and a fabulous wine. I am glad that I have, if I recall correctly, one more bottle still to go.
• Philippe Foreau Vouvray Brut Réserve 2002
  My meeting with Philippe Foreau in summer 2008 was one to remember! His 2002 méthode traditionelle Vouvray was one of the reasons.
• Huet Vouvray Pétillant 2002
  Another fabulous fizz from a great producer in a very favourable vintage. Both these Vouvrays are piled high in the cellar.

Sweet: Chateau d'Yquem 1997

At a dinner in June hosted by Bibendum and Pierre Lurton I tasted several vintages from Cheval-Blanc and Yquem. There was little to choose between the 1988 and 1997 Yquem, as both were sublime, but I have come down on the side of the 1997 here. There were some other amazing wines tasted this year:

• Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel 2007
  Another of many excellent wines from this vintage tasted early in the year; I am already looking forward to a similar assessment of the 2008 vintage.
• Domaine des Baumard Quarts de Chaume 1980
  A mature wine from one of the Loire's leading domaines, this showed a lot of appealing, complex tertiary character.
• Philippe Foreau Vouvray Moelleux Réserve 2003
  And another wine from Vouvray's Foreau; whilst his sparkling cuvées are excellent, his sweet wines can be truly sublime.

Fortified: No award.

This seems to have been a very difficult category this year; there seems to have been no shortage of wines that were tired, oxidised or simply dull. Fortunately there were a handful of good bottles amongst the disappointments, as detailed below, but none really shone sufficiently for me to name it my fortified wine of the year.

• Taylor's Quinta de Vargellas Vintage Port 2001
  In a selection of currently available Ports tasted in December, this was without doubt the most promising.
• Dow's Quinta do Bomfim Vintage Port 1987
  A great vintage which was not declared and which therefore yielded a number of very good single quinta wines.
• Lustau Old East India Solera
  OK, not strictly fortified, but here seems like as good a place as any to note that this wine is as reliable and as interesting as ever.

Winedoctor Awards

Most Impressive Producer: Philippe Alliet
A category where I can consider consistency, committed dedication and overall quality rather than just the occasional great bottle. When I turned up at Alliet's house in Cravant hoping to taste the 2005 vintage only to be faced by his 2006 portfolio I was disappointed. This was the wrong reaction; the wines were fabulous, and I loaded up (subsequently tracking down some of the 2005s as well). I was similarly impressed by Philippe Foreau, François Pinon and Pierre Jacques Druet. An array of fabulous wines from Mouton Rothschild tasted earlier in the year means this Bordeaux estate cannot go unmentioned, and the same goes for Sassicaia from Tenuta San Guido (although they have come on for some valid criticism over the 2002 vintage). In addition the wines of Domaine Tempier have really impressed during the year, both when I visited the domaine in October, but also at home and out at restaurants.

Biggest disappointment: Project Cabernet Franc
I travelled to London earlier in the year to taste Sam Harrop's latest line-up of Cabernet Franc Ambassadors. What I found there were some decent wines, but most surprising was to hear how much Harrop enjoys the green, herbaceous elements of some Loire reds. From my article...."to Harrop warm vintage wines can be atypical, losing the green characters he is looking for. Harrop's comment (I'm paraphrasing here) that in warmer vintages he sometimes prefers the wines of co-operatives because they tend to harvest earlier, and therefore they don't lose the herby-vegetal character amongst the ripe fruit, was a crystallising moment for me. He and I clearly have different views on what is most important in Loire Cabernet Franc". I realised at this tasting that this project, as worthy as it may be, is not likely to produce the sort of wine I would buy. The wines no doubt benefit from Harrop's undeniable expertise, but favouring wines with unripe characteristics, even if this is an occasionally charming aspect of Loire wines, is not a path I would follow.

Worst retailer: 1855
No 'best retailer' this year, instead an award to the worst retailer of 2008. To cut a long story short, I ordered some wine from 1855.com in August. In October I began chasing it up, as it hadn't arrived. I have been promised that someone will phone me back with an explanation as to why it hasn't arrived at least a dozen times. At one point one call-centre worker explained that most of the wine had been dispatched, and was simply held up in customs in the UK. More than a month on from that conversation, however, there was still no wine, and phoning 1855 often there was no answer. Or a recorded message which counts you down minute by minute only in the end to cut you off. Or the usual promise of a return call. On my last attempt, I was offered the opportunity to speak to a 'counsellor'. Maybe I will take them up on that offer; if my wine never arrives at least I will have someone to talk to about it. Finally, in the week before this article is published, tired of phone chat I fire off a flurry of emails, hoping at least one will be answered....and indeed one was, confirming that all but one of the bottles I ordered is about to be dispatched. But hang on......didn't they already tell me it was tied up in UK customs? Was that a lie, or just incompetence? All in all, 1855 seem quite useless. Without doubt, this was the worst wine retail experience of 2008. I won't hold my breath waiting for this delivery.

Bargain: Max & Lydie Cognard-Taluau St Nicolas de Bourgueil Les Malgagnes 2005
I have never had so much correspondence as that when I wrote about this wine on my return from the Loire this summer; at the price of just a handful of Euros per bottle (I forget how much exactly) I know some readers who loaded up with two cases. Fortunately, having tasted the 2002 as well, I am absolutely certain they will not be disappointed. Visitors to the domaine now tell me that the review is pinned up on the wall in the family's tasting room. Fame at last! Other bargains included some magnums of François Pinon's 1988 Vouvray Brut which came my way for just £20. I wonder if I can get any more of those?

And there we have it. I think 2008 has been a great success for this site, and it looks to me as though 2009 could be just as exciting. I hope you will continue to check in from time to time, as the site continues to grow and develop over the next twelve months. My best wishes for 2009 to all!