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2008 Left Bank wines will probably be best known as the last afforable, high quality vintage from the Medoc. Outstanding wines were produced from both the Left Bank and the Right Bank. While the most exciting wines of the vintage came from Pomerol, several outstanding wines from the Medoc and Pessac Leognan can still be found for fair prices today.
2008 Alter Ego is not considered a second wine by Chateau Palmer. The blend differs from Palmer and the fruit comes from different terroir. This difference produces a Bordeaux wine perfume of black cherry with hints of coffee, earth and spice. Elegant in style, with soft textures and a medium to full bodied texture, this wine should deliver pleasure early. 91 Pts
2008 Brane Cantenac is a Bordeaux wine that greets your nose with floral, earth, cassis, cedar, and blackberry aromas. Medium bodied in texture, this elegant, cassis filled wine should drink well young. 91 Pts
2008 d’Issan, with its cassis, spice, black cherry and truffle nose feels soft, round and polished in the mouth. The wine ends with sensations of blackberry, spice and dark cherries. 92 Pts
2008 Ducru Beaucaillou is loaded with juicy ripe cassis, licorice, chocolate, oak, truffles and fresh herbs. Powerful, dense and concentrated, this plush, complex wine is elegant, balanced long and complex. 95 Pts
2008 Gloria offers cassis and dark cherry with herbs in the nose. Already drinking well, this medium to full bodied, easy to drink wine should offer pleasure early. 90 Pts
2008 Haut Bailly is loaded with spice, earth, cassis, blackberry, smoke, oak and tobacco scents. Full bodied and filled with plush, ripe fruit, this suave wine fills your palate with dark berries and earth. While different in style if you cannot afford Haut Brion or La Mission Haut Brion and you want a great vintage of Pessac Leognan, you cannot do better than Haut Bailly today. 94 Pts
2008 Latour is powerful, full bodied and concentrated with ripe cassis, tobacco, truffle, slate, and black plum aromatics. The wine covers your palate with waves dark berries and ripe, round, polished tannins. The long, pure, fresh finish remains in your mouth for over forty five seconds! 97 Pts
2008 Lynch Bages starts with cassis, fudge earth, fennel and forest floor aromas. Full bodied and loaded with ripe tannins and berries this is the best Lynch Bages since the outstanding 2000. 93 Pts
2008 Margaux opens with a complex perfume of fresh flowers, minerals, cassis, earth, forest floor, cedar and coffee scents. Full bodied and concentrated with round tannins, opulent textures and ripe fruit, this stylish wine ends with a long, polished sexy wave of rich textures. 96 Pts
2008 Palmer  begins with a perfume filled with blackberry liqueur, vanilla, spice oak, floral and truffle scents. Rich concentrated and filled with layers of ripe, opulent fruit, this elixir ends with an intense, refined, sensuous finish. This is a serious wine and for Palmer, it remains well priced. 96 Pts
2008 Pichon Baron has a cassis filled perfume that’s complicated with hints of tobacco, coca, earth and blackberry jam. Full bodied and loaded with flavor, this elegant, round, polished Pauillac feels great on the palate and ends with a long cassis and dark berry sensation. 93 Pts
2008 Pontet Canet is another winner from Alfred Tesseron, who has been making better wine every year since the 1994 vintage. Black fruit paired with spice, licorice, earth and toasty oak introduce your senses to the wine. This powerful, full bodied, cassis and blackberry jam filled wine is fresh, fat and concentrated, ending in a wave in chocolate covered, dark berries.  95 Pts
2008Â Rauzan-Segla, with floral, boysenberry, cassis, tobacco, oak and spicy scents, this full bodied wine already feels soft and silky in the mouth. The wine finishes with sweet ripe, berries and chocolate. 93 Pts
2008 St. Pierre  opens with oak, vanilla, black raspberry and chocolate scents. In the mouth, the wine feels round and approachable. The finish ends with a blast of cassis and blackberry. This is a property that keeps getting better, but sadly prices continue rising as well. 92 Pts
2008 Le Thil is one of the top value wines from the vintage offering quality, character and a low price of under $20. Blackberry dark cherry, tar, vanilla and coffee aromatics pair well with soft textures and a chocolate, boysenberry filled finish. This vintage was produced with the help with Stephane Derenoncourt. 90 Pts
2 Comments
Jeff, I much appreciate your thoughts on the 2008 wines. Thanks for posting these!
Hi Chris.. Thanks for posting. I really believe the 2008 Pomerols and some of the top Medoc wines offer the perfect combination of great wine at a more than fair price. Not much came to the states. My guess is, the day Parker puts out his in bottle report, those wines will be gone.