Gracia 2008

One of the most remarkable St.-Emilions of the vintage, the 2008 Gracia (13.5% alcohol) is a candidate for "wine of the year." Yields were 18 hectoliters per hectare and despite its aging in 100% new oak, the wine shows no evidence of new wood. The final blend was 80% Merlot and the rest mostly Cabernet Franc and a touch of Cabernet Sauvignon. The full-bodied 2008 boasts an inky/purple color along with an Ausone-like nose of licorice, truffles, camphor, crushed rocks and blue as well as black fruits. More supple and opulent than the 2010, the 2008 is already beginning to round into shape and should be at its finest in 4-5 years and keep for two decades. Only, 4,700 bottles were produced.

This extraordinary, multi-dimensional 2008 Gracia boasts abundant notes of blue and blackberries, roasted coffee beans, chocolate, incense, and forest floor. Layered, deep, full-bodied, and concentrated, with fresh, lively acids that provide vibrancy and precision, this beauty finished at 13.5% natural alcohol. One of the most extraordinary St.-Emilions of the vintage, it well worth searching out and buying. It can be drunk over the next two decades or more.Profoundly low yields of 18 hectoliters per hectare, a harvest that lasted into the third week of October, and a final blend of 75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon have resulted in a 2008 Gracia that ranks alongside the 2000 and 2005 produced by proprietor Michel Gracia. Gracia, good friends with Ausone's Alain Vauthier, produces wines that have much in common with Ausone (considered by many knowledgeable observers to be the finest pure terroir of Bordeaux).