Bright, bittersweet cherry and cranberry that could have been borrowed from 2008 inform the Jayer-Gilles 2007 Nuits-St.-Georges Les Damodes, along with more obvious tannic structure than I perceived in its immediate siblings. Invigoratingly saline, leathery, pungently herbal, and piquantly cherry pit notes inform the sustained and energetic finish of a slightly austere wine I expect will be worth following for a dozen or more years, and that – unlike most of its vintage – ought to be given the next few to rest quietly in a cellar. Gilles Jayer did not commence harvesting is 2008 Pinots until October 1, with his Echezeaux. (In 2007, he began August 31.) With the exception of a few top parcels, he notes, triage had to be more severe in 2007 (just as in 2006) than it was in 2008, when he estimates that only 3-5% of what arrived in the press house was rejected. These 2008s evolved very slowly, in many instances retaining gaseous memoirs of their malo-lactic fermentations through the winter of 2009-2010, and not only were none of them bottled until after I last tasted them, but the Cotes de Nuits-Villages was simply not ready to be assessed. Importer: Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 832-9083