Xavier Besson Givry les Grands Pretans

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As so frequently chez Besson, I am left feeling that the 2008 Givry Le Grands Pretans is their least promising wine for the price, although it still harbors plenty of appeal. Cinnamon-tinged dark cherry vies with game and the lanolin, resin, and vanilla from new wood (from the same 50% share that is not noticeable in the Petit Pretan, where the provenance of the barrels differs somewhat). The tannins are also more noticeable here, which when added to the typical tart edge to 2008 fruit and the wine’s retained CO2 (most of which, admittedly, will be driven out before bottling) makes for an aggressiveness that goes beyond the invigoration delivered by this year’s other Besson cuvees. If I were holding some of this I would count on enjoying it within half a dozen years. The Bessons have been a source of rare red and white Burgundy value for more than a decade, and have often demonstrated their ability to rise to the challenge of a vintage (although they did not succeed in 2007 to the extent that they did in 2008, or even 2004). Their use of 30-60% new wood seldom results in any signs of overt oakiness, in part because some wines are raised in a combination of barrique and 500-liter tonneaux. But like other growers utilizing larger barrel sizes in very cold cellars, the CO2 was very slow to dissipate from their 2008s after malo, and as a result these wines had not yet been bottled (though they had long since been racked to tank) when I tasted them in March.A Peter Vezan Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011 33 1 42 55 42 93

Importer: David Hinkle / Peter Vezan, North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; tel (800) 266-6585.

This smoky, black fruit-scented wine that has been lavishly oaked, offers sweet, rich, medium to full-bodied fruit, excellent concentration, a velvety texture, and plenty of alcohol in the heady, long finish. This is a mouth filling, surprisingly rich and well-made red Burgundy from the Cote Chalonnaise. Drink it over the next 5-6 years.A Peter Vezan Selection (Paris fax # 011 33 1 42554293), various American importers