94
Jeb Dunnuck Tasting Note
Fully mature, yet still pure and layered, with plenty of vibrancy, the 2008 Château Haut-Bailly has quintessential Haut-Bailly sweet darker berries, smoked tobacco, minty herbs, and floral aromas and flavors. These carry over to the palate, where the wine is medium to full-bodied, has firmer, focusing tannins, solid mid-palate depth, and a great finish. This is a more austere, focused style from the estate that has a classic, age-worthy style. It should hold nicely going forward and, I suspect, have another 10-15 years of prime drinking, with a gradual decline thereafter.
90
Wine Spectator Tasting Note
Racy and slightly taut, with red currant and cherry pit notes laced with grilled herb and warm stone. There's a sinewy edge on the finish, with more minerality than fruit for now, but this adds some flesh as it airs, showing subtle persistence. Drink now through 2016. 6,000 cases made.
92
Vinous Tasting Note
Ruby-red. Enticing delicate aromas of fresh flowers, strawberry, ripe red cherry and a hint of minerals. Juicy and light on entry, then complex and graceful in the middle, with plenty of mouthwatering strawberry and blackcurrant flavors accented by graphite and minerals. Very well balanced on the long, satiny finish, this is as far removed from the blockbuster Napa Valley cabernet-merlot stereotype as a Bordeaux wine can be, and should make beautiful drinking in the near term. But my experience with Haut-Bailly is that it always seems light when young (sometimes too light), only to pick up considerable flesh and volume with age, so my guess is that it will still be splendid 25 years after the vintage.
92
James Suckling Tasting Note
Wonderful nose of decadent fruit and chocolate, with hints of meat and flowers. Full-bodied, with well-integrated tannins and a spicy, silky, long finish. Tight now, but so fine and dense. Give it four to five years of bottle age. So lovely. Best after 2013.
95
Wine Advocate Tasting Note
A brilliant effort for this vintage, yields were a mere 10 hectoliters per hectare in 2008 and the result is only 8,000 bottles produced. Opulent, fleshy and full-bodied, this wine has reigned in the excruciatingly high level of tannins, but the 15% alcohol gives it loads of glycerin as well as a chewy mouthfeel. Inky/purple-colored and super-concentrated with relatively civilized tannins, this stunning 2008 should be accessible in 3-5 years (atypical for Clos de Sarpe) and drink well for 30+.