Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

2008 Château Lamothe-Bouscaut; Pessac-Léognan
Opened a week earlier by a friend.
smoke, cedar, tobacco, a bit of wood spice and cassis, quite classic on the nose, dried firewood, a bit of dried meat (beef jerky); forest fruit and underbrush, quite leafy with hints of leaf. Sea breeze, salinity and some pencil lead and minerals. Almost a sea-shell and fossil type feel to it, slightly dusty and quite long. Really lovely and drinkable. 68-70/100  

I tasted a lot of 08's at the Paris Grand Tasting last week, and I must admit it seems like a really nice vintage, completely overshadowed by the (mostly-deserved) hype around 09. I think it might be a buyers vintage while everyone is chasing 09.

What's up with the score though?

Mr. Beagle's scoring system copied from the link at the end of his post:

Jonathan Beagle’s 100 point system
0-29/100 I wouldn’t bother with this.
30-49/100 Decent but I wouldn’t buy a case.
50-59/100 Good wine showing grape and terroir character.
60-69/100 An excellent example of a wine from this grape, region or country.
70-85/100 One of the very best wines that this region has to offer.
86-100/100 One of the very best wines that I have ever tried, period.

Chris Bublitz

I'm not big on 2008.

I find that oyster shell/ sea shell quality in quite a few of the pessac's..the '08 larrivet I tasted recently has it..me likey

I glad I have some 08s. I tasted some just after bottling and they were mixed but they seem to be pulling together.

I really want some Poujeaux and Gruaud-Larose.

Jim, what's your issue with 08? Some liken it to 06.

2008 doesn't seem quite ripe to me. More green than the 2006 or 2004. 2006 I consider to be very good, I like the light-on-its-feet character.

"[Q]uite leafy with hints of leaf". I nominate that for BWE TN of the year.

In Jono's defenc(s)e I would say that based on a very narrow tasting of one leftie, le baron, and one rightie, Figeac, the 08s were really classy and as he says a BWE kinda vintage. In both cases the 08 s were generally better than the 04s and 06s. Though in Figeac's case the 06 came close to matching the 08.

AlohaArtakaHoundsong wrote:"[Q]uite leafy with hints of leaf". I nominate that for BWE TN of the year.

That's meant to have been mushroom.
Must have been enjoying the wine too much!!

Guys
I consider 2006 to be better than 2008 on the right bank.
The 06s offer more overt red fruits and the 08s can be a bit angular.
Yet 08 to me is a right bank vintage and I have been more impressed by RB 08s than 06 or 04.
04 is good but I think 06 better on LB and 08 on RB than 04.

2006 ranks second to 2002L among my favorite vintages since 2000.

Claudius - count me as confused....is 06 better than 08 right bank, or is 08 a right bank vintage that is more impressive than 06 RB? Or how does that work?

Guys
I consider 2006 to be better than 2008 on the right bank.
The 06s offer more overt red fruits and the 08s can be a bit angular.
Yet 08 to me is a right bank vintage and I have been more impressed by RB 08s than 06 or 04.

Was wondering myself. I think he means 2006 is better than 2008 on LEFT bank.

>>
I consider 2006 to be better than 2008 on the right bank
>>

You meant left bank, right?

Lucie and I drank 2006 Haut Bergey with a cheese soufflé last night. It was noticeably Graves and excellent with the soufflé. Just six months ago it was closed and rather hard.