2008 Wine from France

Wine Enthusiast, 96 points: While still young, this Champagne has all the makings of greatness. Produced from grand cru vineyards, it already balances ripe white fruits with a firm structure that will age well. It's relatively dry and has plenty of...

Decanter, 97 points: A blend of 65% Pinot Noir consisting of Premier and Grand Crus from the Montagne de Reims and the Vallee de la Marne and 35% Chardonnay from the Cote des Blancs. Significantly, this has nine years ageing on its lees...

jebdunnuck.com, 98 points: (98+ points) The 2008 Champagne Rare Rosé is straight-up sensational. Only the second time they’ve produced this cuvée, it offers a deep, full-bodied, powerful yet chiseled and laser-focused style carrying loads of wild...

Decanter, 98 points: Departing chef de cave Richard Geoffroy quite rightly calls 2008 ‘the miracle year'. Perfect ripening allowed the longest ever harvest, with four weeks available to select when, where and what to pick. The result is a...

jamessuckling.com, 94 points: The nose features a beautiful play between grilled almonds, praline, ginger, toasted bread and then vibrant rose petals, dried citrus and strawberries. The medium-bodied palate is quite vertical at first, but then comes a...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 93 points: Tasted from the same lot as in June this year, the 2008 Cuvée des Moines Brut Millésime is very fine on the deep, ripe and elegant nose where the 31% Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier play the first guitar at the moment. This...

Vinous, 92 points: The 2008 Brut Vintage is a delicious wine with which to explore the vintage, as it offers a lovely combination of richness, energy and early approachability. There is a sense of vibrancy that is so appealing. Orchard...

Neal Martin's Wine Journal, 89 points: Tasted ex-château and single blind in Southwold. The Le Petit Lion 2008 has a well-defined clean crisp attractive bouquet with blackberry raspberry and a faint tang of marmalade. The palate is medium-bodied with a...

Vinous, 98 points: The 2008 Clos des Goisses is just as impressive today as it has always been. Rich, dense and explosive, the 2008 exists in three dimensions, with remarkable textural depth and vertical intensity to burn. Clos des Goisses...

Burghound, 90 points: Initially this was quite closed but with 45 minutes of aeration the nose opened to reveal aromas of violets, earth, stone and a mix of perfumed red and blue pinot fruit. The medium-bodied flavors were equally tight though...

Decanter, 96 points: Another hit, although this is not as glamorous as some vintages of Mouton. The expression here is just a little more Pauillac, rather than Mouton. Layers of blackberry and grilled almonds are marked by a touch of...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 96 points: Tasted with Baptiste Guinaudeau, the 2008 Lafleur is a wine for which I have a lot of time, and as it approaches a decade old, it is beginning to loosen up a little. There is plenty of fruit on the nose—more than I have...

Vinous, 92 points: (90-92 points) Light red. Sexy, fragrant scents of Moroccan spices, dried strawberry, raspberry and minerals, plus a whiff of cherry skin. Very sexy, sweet red fruit flavors are perked up by blood orange and smoky...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 93 points: One of the most beautiful wines of the vintage the dark ruby/purple-colored La Lagune exhibits sweet cassis camphor truffle and white chocolate notes presented in a dense medium to full-bodied silky textured personality...