Smoky black tea and Latakia tobacco; intensely ripe blackberry and cassis; ocean breeze and quarry dust mark the nose of Grivot’s 2008 Vosne Romanee Les Suchots, then occupy a formidably dense yet persistently refreshing palate. The finish lacks the focus, or saliva-inducing savor of the corresponding Beaumonts. As Grivot trenchantly puts it: “this is a bit imprecise and disorganized,” in large part, he insists, in reaction to recent bottling. That said, the impression is both complex and gripping, indeed this has grand cru reach, and its maritime elements fascinated in the manner familiar from the best of Romanee St.-Vivant, next door. I expect we have here a wine that will merit following for 12-15 years. “We never want rapid malos,” notes Etienne Grivot, “but those in 2008 were not especially late or long by our standards – no longer than in 2002 or 2005. And I didn’t sulfur the wines when they were completed, because the volatile acids were really low and the pHs were very good” (i.e. low). Instead, most of Grivot’s 2008s were only sulfured after the 2009 harvest. Grivot gave them at least 3 weeks in tank before bottling, which took place between January and early April. Based on my intuitions and Grivot’s testimony, several of his 2008s were suffering significantly from post-bottling depression when I tasted them in late April, so readers should bear this is mind and recognize that my scores, in isolation, might prove misleadingly low. Grivot characterizes the 2008s as “dynamic but introverted” and “l(fā)ess accessible” than either the 2006s or 2007s, but that contrast appears to have been exacerbated by circumstances on this occasion. (In view of the delightful showing of two Grivot 2007s in April, I regret that I simply wasn’t able to taste more wines from that collection in the time available to me.) Importer: Diageo Chateau and Estate Wines Company, New York, NY; tel. (212) 419-1400