PV Tasting Notes
This 2008 “Saint Emilion Grand Cru” wine is another one of the best sleepers of the vintage, a tiny vineyard of less than 10 Acres, the vines are an average age of more than 60 years, Merlot dominates the vineyard, (around 85%) with production of around 1200-1400 cases per normal vintage, so it’s rare and difficult to source. The 2008 however is something else altogether, the fruit selection was so severe, they cropped at less than one third normal levels, single grape, by single grape and rumour has it, a little over 10 hectolitres per hectare, which will give less than 500 cases for the year! I don’t know if this is true, but the wine is stunning. Rustic, dramatic, massive, intensely concentrated, basically this could become a monster wine, plum/purple in colour with a black edge, the aromatics are ripe (very ripe) high toned and complex, saddle leather, smoke, black fruits, liquorices, with abundant sweet tannin, when it fills the mouth, everything about this wine is immense and almost…uncivilized. This team, like Gerard Perse at Chateau Pavie, seem to be taking winemaking to the extreme levels, certainly it seems cutting edge, but there’s a sauvage element here, which I like. I don’t know if this will end up being better than the top names of St Emilion, Ausone, Bellevue Mondotte, Cheval Blanc, or Pavie but it is different.
Independent Review95 Points Robert Parker - The Wine Advocate May 2011
A brilliant effort for this vintage, yields were a mere 10 hectoliters per hectare in 2008 and the result is only 8,000 bottles produced. Opulent, fleshy and full-bodied, this wine has reigned in the excruciatingly high level of tannins, but the 15% alcohol gives it loads of glycerin as well as a chewy mouthfeel. Inky/purple-colored and super-concentrated with relatively civilized tannins, this stunning 2008 should be accessible in 3-5 years (atypical for Clos de Sarpe) and drink well for 30+.
Serve this with all manner of great foods like, Beef Tartare, Beef Carpaccio with spicy olive oil, Roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, Seared beef fillet, Beef Tagliata, Poached fillet of beef on red peppers, Beef stroganoff, Blackened beef steak, Tournedos Rossini with Madera Sauce, Beef olives with kidney gravy, Slow roasted four rib, Seared beef fillet, Beef and shiitake mushroom stir fry, Salt beef and horseradish mash, Sweet tangy chilli beef, Braised shin of beef, Roast fillet of lamb, Navarin of lamb, Braised duck legs, roast duck breasts and red cabbage slaw, Duck with soy, diced plum and honey, Pan-roasted duck with cherry sauce, Pan-roasted partridge with creamed Brussels sprouts and chestnuts, Roast grouse with neeps, savoy sausage and whisky honey sauce, Honeyed crispy duck, Venison with blueberries, Roasted venison with chocolate vinaigrette.