Wood smoke, smoked meat, game, and alkaline mineral notes pungently scent the Leroy 2008 Richebourg, then mingle with bright red fruits on a plate that shows stronger tannins – albeit fine-grained ones – than any other wine in the present collection. The invigorating, saliva-inducing salinity here mounts along with the fruit intensity on a trumpet-like finish. It’s easy at this address to become inured to complexity, but I think it’s fair to say that this Richebourg does not quite reach the level in that department of the very finest Leroy 2008s. Perhaps that will come. What is amazing for now is above all this wine’s clarion intensity and sheer palate persistence. It should be given at least 8-10 years in cellar with the confidence that it will thereafter perform brilliantly for at least an equal interval. Lalou Bize-Leroy reports average 2008 Pinot Noir yields of 13 hectoliters per hectare, almost absurdly tiny even by her singular standards. Malos were a bit later than usual but were finished by summer, and the wines bottled – as usual – in December. Yet – also as usual – if their development was thereby in any way stunted, you certainly won’t detect it in the bottle today! The best of these display a sense of transparency; levity; and – even when rich and head-spinningly complex – a sheer sense of refreshment and invigoration that I have seldom encountered in other great wines from these sister estates. (Please note that my account of the complete 2007 red collection at Leroy was published in issue #189.) Importer: Martine’s Wines. Novato, CA; tel. (415) 883-040