Medium red. Knockout nose combines wild red berries, minerals and red licorice, lifted by ineffable notes of blood orange and rose petal. Very suave on entry, then intense and pure in the middle, at once taut and seamless. Superb energy to the raspberry, mineral and spice flavors. Downright thick for a 2008, saturating the entire palate on the back end and leaving the taste buds quivering. Finishes with suave tannins and outstanding length. A beauty.

The 2008 Vosne-Romanée Aux Malconsorts blossoms with endless layers of dark fruit. This is a totally sensual, enveloping wine graced with finesse, class and elegance. The Malconsorts is a pretty open 2008, but it will be even better in another few years' time.

The Dujac 2008 Vosne-Romanee Les Malconsorts – which I tasted right after bottling – mingles Latakia tobacco, peat, black tea, resin, smoked meat, and dark berries in a strikingly pungent as well as (for its vintage) impressively ripe nose. Noteworthy, too, is its sheer viscosity and density of raw material; the oily cling of blackberry, cassis, and brown spices; as well as more of the aforementioned pungency in the finish. This really sets my mouth to vibrating and my imagination to burning with a desire to revisit in 4-6 years. I’m confident it will be worth following through at least its twelfth birthday. What a contrast this makes to the relative delicacy of the corresponding 2007! The Dujac 2008s were not racked until last December, and bottling took place January through March. “The malic acid numbers were high-ish, but not significantly higher than in, say, 2006 or 2001,” says Jeremy Seysses in an effort to explain what he admitted were “for us, excessively late malos. I have a feeling it was a lack of nutrients that were wash out,” he continues, since, after all, “it rained a lot in 2008” with, he adds, “poor fruit set proving to be the vintage’s saving grace. I think we would actually have had less to harvest (i.e. worth keeping) if we had had a better fruit set. There was rot, but can you find it in any of the wines? That’s a credit to how far Burgundy has come along in terms of sorting” (which Dujac does exclusively in the vineyard, not on sorting tables – the name of their U.S. importer ironically notwithstanding). “I didn’t love my lack of options in 2007,” says Seysses of the preceding season, “so we picked early – earlier even than in 2003.” In vinification “we decided not to force too much, and just to keep it charming,” which is exactly how I thought the wines turned out. “At Domaine Dujac, we’re never been that attached to deep color, so we’re quite tolerant (in that regard), and the least thing we wanted to do was make hard wines. I de-stemmed more (than usual, or than in 2008). The fruit felt fragile, so in barrel I kept the wines under a bit more free sulfur than usual, which reinforced their lightness.” Seysses opines that 2007 was not a year in which old selections displayed their overall superiority to clones, because “if yo(‘re Pinots) were riper earlier, you were ripe while it was raining,” whereas in 2008 you could scarcely get too much ripeness. Importer: The Sorting Table, Napa, CA; tel. (415) 491-4724

Outstanding. This is less fine but more powerful and a bit more complex as well with a spicy mix of both blue and black pinot fruit cut with earth and herbal notes that precede the full, rich and very serious medium weight plus flavors that offer up a certain opulence on the mid-palate yet the gorgeously long finish is focused and classy. I very much like the dry extract level as it does a good job of buffering the firm tannins. Drink: 2023+
-Burghound.com, Issue 41. Tasted: Jan 01, 2011

The 2008 Vosne-Romanée Aux Malconsorts 1er Cru has a more backward, more fruit-driven bouquet when compared directly to the 2006 and 2007 with high-toned Morello cherry and raspberry confit scents, just a touch feistier than I expect. The palate is juicier and displays more body than the first two vintages. There is more presence and a little more grip, although still falling short of what I would expect from this vineyard. However, its initially understated opening, discretely builds in the mouth and leads to an edgy, ferrous finish with touches of brown spice and orange rind lingering on the aftertaste. This is a very competent Aux Malconsorts, though the following two vintages are clearly better. Tasted at Flint Wines Malconsort vertical.

Light to mid brick red. Undergrowth and savoury umami notes starting to dominate on the nose. Deliciously spicy too. The palate is the mirror image of the aroma, savoury and spiced, but the fruit core, even if no longer primary, gives the balance and shape. A little dry on the finish but that’s tasting it at 11 am and without food. At the table I think it would be just perfect. (JH)