2008 Burgundy part 1: Chablis to Nuits

Many are picked, but few are chosen

So, what`s it like? Should I buy red or white? Should I buy it at all? What vintage is it like?

2008 is like 1998, in that the wines are currently being misunderstood and will need time to show at their best. It is like 1993 - a bit - in that the wines needed a lot of age and were woefully misunderstood by critics - this was, after all, the vintage that caused the divorce of Parker from the region. And as I prowl the tastings, earwigging, ghost-like, I also detect serious mistakes being made about 2008. Because it is a hard vintage to taste and judge accurately.

So, after such a rotten summer how do we have the nerve to try and sell the stuff at all? You`ll be reading about the north wind that saved the wines. Actually, this was a pretty miraculous phenomenon, which arrived in the nick of time for Burgundy. (Bordeaux had longer to luxuriate in it.) But it isn`t a vintage of the north wind. This, my friends, is a vintage of the ruthless, of the sorting table, and of the immaculate vinification. This is not a vintage that can be bought carelessly across the board and regular clients will notice `adjustments` to our list of growers. It is a vintage, though, where many made better wines than in 2007.

The whites are pure and classic, with the best showing gorgeous, fresh, mouthfilling and mouthwatering fruit - many growers cut back on time in oak. The reds are refreshing but balanced and are true vins de gard - at almost every level those worth buying will benefit from a decent period of maturation. /CW

Wednesday 20 January
Part 2: Beaune to the Chalonnaise

Wednesday 10 February
Burgundy tasting 12-8pm, £25 per person inc VAT

Offered subject to remaining unsold for shipment winter 2010/11

Jean-Paul & Benoit Droin

Christian Moreau

Domaine des Lambrays

Lucie & Auguste Lignier