The Dublere 2008 Volnay Les Pitures – which incorporates, Pethel reports, some of his ripest fruit of the vintage – mingles fresh red raspberry, sauteed mushroom, and meat stock. Bright and refreshing, it is a bit lean for now texturally, but finishes with promising persistence. I can envision this having a ten or more year future, although I do not expect it to ever display the charm or textural allure of the 2006 and 2007. Asked which of the vintages was more challenging, North Carolina ex-pat Blair Pethel just laughs at first and then says: “I lost more fruit to the tri in ‘07 than I did in ‘08. We had to rush in ‘07 because fruit was rotting on the vines. In ‘08, after the north wind came up and the sun came out, you could wait, and the rot dried out.” I tasted the ‘08s here already at the end of February, just before they were assembled into tank for an expected May bottling. They had lost a bit of color to recent sulfuring, which I suspect had also slightly depressed their fruit, hopefully only temporarily. (In 2009, Pethel practiced an incremental regimen of sulfuring instead.) For more details on his operation – which is a “domaine” only by trademark, as he contracts for most of his fruit – please consult issue 180, where I first reported on the whites, which are show-stoppers in 2008, incidentally, just as they were in 2007. A Becky Wasserman Selection (various importers), Le Serbet; fax 011- 333-80-24-29-70; Pas Mal Selections, New York, NY; tel. (201) 567 2028, Schneider’s of Capital Hill, Washington, DC tel. (202) 543 9300 and Chelsea Ventures,1601 South Canal Street, Chicago, Illinois 60616 tel (847) 920-5052

An extremely subtle hint of oak easily allows the cool, pure, airy and lacy red pinot fruit aromas to have center stage. The textured, supple and round medium-bodied flavors ooze a fine minerality and this character continues onto the focused and admirably persistent finish. This is really lovely stuff and a classic Volnay.