Good deep red. Knockout slightly high-toned nose melds raspberry, smoky minerality and flowers. Silky on entry, then an explosion of spices in the middle palate, with almost painful energy to the red berry, crushed stone and pepper flavors. Wonderfully rich yet somehow weightless. A real essence of Burgundy. Finishes very long, with suave tannins. I'd give this beauty a decade in the cellar. Cathiard loves it today but believes it will shut down in the bottle.

Tasted out of barrel at the Domaine. This has a more rounded, more extrovert bouquet compared to the Reignots, with raspberry, wild strawberry and red cherry soaring from the glass, complemented by a touch of blood orange. The palate is more compact, very cohesive with silky smooth tannins, sweet red cherry fruit, strawberry and a touch of blueberry, good weight, very focused, quite linear towards the finish. The oak is well-integrated in the wine, rendering it silky and caressing in texture, yet not dominating the sense of terroir. One of Cathiard’s best 2008s. Tasted November 2009.

The 2008 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru En Orveaux from Cathiard is still quite youthful, its nose of ripe plum, currant and spicy soil framed by a lavish application of creamy new oak. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied and supple, with good depth and intensity, the edgy acids of the year balanced by sweet fruit and oak. Though I think Sébastian Cathiard is making more sophisticated wines today, this is an attractively pleasure-bent interpretation of the 2008 vintage.