Domaine Dujac   Romanee St Vivant

2008 Romanee St Vivant

By Domaine Dujac

2008 Romanee St Vivant from Domaine Dujac, Grand Cru, Burgundy, France

The distinguished 2008 Romanee St Vivant from Domaine Dujac manifests the eloquence of a Burgundy Grand Cru that has borne the vicissitudes of its vintage with grace. Navigating the climatic odyssey of 2008 – marked by capricious weather patterns – this wine emerges as a testament to the tenacity and expertise of its vintners.

 

The Profound Harmony of a Challenging Vintage

In 2008, Burgundy's vignerons felt the cool year's trials, coaxing their vineyards to concentrate on ripening grapes amidst torrents and uncertainties. But it is precisely such a challenge that often leads to an exemplary harvest under the scrupulous care of a domain like Dujac. Patience was rewarded when sunshine graciously bathed the vines at the most crucial moments, allowing a successful, albeit late, harvest.

Imbibers will find that the 2008 Romanee St Vivant reveals an intriguing display of vitality and substance. It dances delicately with a floral bouquet intermingled with hints of woodland strawberries and refined earthy undertones. On the palate, one is met with an intricate lacework of red fruit flavours supported by a svelte tannin structure, showing both power and precision in every sip.

 

Investing in Elegance and Longevity

The elegance of Domaine Dujac's craftsmanship shines through in this compelling vintage, offering fine wine investors an opportunity to partake in the depth and complexity that such a storied terroir can yield. The 2008 Romanee St Vivant confidently strides into its maturity with immense aging potential and investment allure.

With every passing year, this seductive offering uncoils further layers, suggesting that connoisseurs and investors alike would be privy to an evolving tapestry of tastes and textures should they choose to add this sophisticated Burgundy to their cellar or portfolio.

Ensuring a prominent position in any collection, this vintage stands as one of the most cerebral iterations from Domaine Dujac, bridging finesse with structure in a harmonious climax that only time can fully unveil. As such, the 2008 Romanee St Vivant represents not merely an acquisition but an investment in an opulent oenological journey.

Market price (CAD)

$53,270.00

12x75cl

Highest score

94

POP score

2286.43

Scores and tasting notes

94

Vanilla, star anise, forest floor, citrus oils, peat, and dark berry aromas rise kaleidoscopically from the glass of Dujac 2008 Romanee St.-Vivant, then deploy themselves with similar kinetic complexity on a palate of quite silken refinement. There’s a resinous, toasty element from the barrel that I could do without, and Seysses notes that “I am working on the toasting” of the particular 350-liter barrels employed here (and demanded by the volume of this precious cru that his acreage and the vintage yielded). But that’s almost a quibble in the context of a wine of such energy, underlying density, and sheer length as to suggest it will be worth following for a couple of decades. 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

David Schildknecht - The Wine Advocate, 28 June 2010

Vintage performance