2008 Musigny Grand Cru
By Domaine Leroy
2008 Musigny Grand Cru from Domaine Leroy, Burgundy, France
In the annals of Burgundian lore, the 2008 vintage from Domaine Leroy stands as a unique and compelling entrant. The growing year was marked by capricious weather, challenging vignerons with a cold spring and a cool, wet August. But as fortuity would have it, an eleventh-hour reprieve came with a dry and sunny September, providing a canvas for the artistry of Domaine Leroy to manifest in its Musigny Grand Cru.
Refined Complexity: A Facet of Investment Worthiness
The climatic trials of 2008 imprinted a distinctive signature on this Musigny Grand Cru that investors and connoisseurs should take heed of. Delving into its depths, one discovers a panoply of dark cherries and ripe strawberries, harmoniously entwined with an earthier beat of truffle and damp forest floor – the terroir whispering its story through every sip. A precise acidity dances with silky tannins evidencing the intervention of cooler climates, endowing this nectar with a regal balance seldom achieved so organically.
A Vintage Narrative Woven Into Every Glass
Few wines speak so clearly of their vintage's journey from vine to vat; the 2008 Musigny Grand Cru is an orator amongst mimes. Domaine Leroy, known for its meticulous cultivation and deference to nature's whims, has coaxed out a wine of fascinating complexity and depth. Much like a sophisticated tapestry, every thread – or vintage characteristic – is essential to appreciating the full image presented.
While still in its stage of youthful exuberance, this wine promises a spectacular evolutionary trajectory for collectors. With cellaring potential that investors prize, it will continue to unfurl layers of aromatic nuance and textural sophistication over the coming decades.
To possess this vintage is to hold a snapshot of 2008 in Burgundian terroir - where adversity crafted excellence and Domaine Leroy's adept hands transformed tribulation into triumph.
Market price (USD)
$364,810.00
12x75cl
Highest score
95
POP score
19922
Scores and tasting notes
The Leroy 2008 Musigny is firm in texture and initially relatively reticent in aroma. Roasted red meat richness and decadently game-like elements put me a bit in mind of what I had expected from the corresponding Vougeot, but a blooming profusion of musky floral perfume bespeaks Musigny. There is a subtle oiliness of texture coating the tannins here and a tiny-berry concentration of diverse red fruits is shadowed by their ethereal distilled counterparts as well as by Chartreuse-like high-toned herbal evocations. This Musigny’s sheer sappy concentration, formidable structure, and carnal depth preclude its being charming or seductive in the unforgettable manner of its 2007 predecessor. But that doesn’t mean the finish here isn’t spellbinding or that the wine won’t bewitch you. Here, I suspect, is another candidate for a quarter-century’s enthralling evolution. Lalou Bize-Leroy reports average 2008 Pinot Noir yields of 13 hectoliters per hectare, almost absurdly tiny even by her singular standards. Malos were a bit later than usual but were finished by summer, and the wines bottled – as usual – in December. Yet – also as usual – if their development was thereby in any way stunted, you certainly won’t detect it in the bottle today! The best of these display a sense of transparency; levity; and – even when rich and head-spinningly complex – a sheer sense of refreshment and invigoration that I have seldom encountered in other great wines from these sister estates. (Please note that my account of the complete 2007 red collection at Leroy was published in issue #189.) Importer: Martine’s Wines. Novato, CA; tel. (415) 883-040
David Schildknecht - The Wine Advocate, 28 June 2010