Domaine Servin

François Servin, along with his Australian Assistant Director of Export Mark Cameron, directs the operations of this 30 ha domaine. Cameron's succinct take on 2008 was that while 2008 has "turned out very well, had in not been for the cool and dry weather coupled with a good north wind in September, we might have been looking at a very different outcome. We began picking on the 29th of September and brought in very clean fruit with relatively thick skins, which was also courtesy of the wind. Potential alcohols averaged around 12.5% but we did have a few wines come in close to 13%. The alcoholics were relatively long and I attribute this to the fact that the harvest weather was quite cool so naturally the grapes, and therefore the must, were also quite cool. We stirred the lees for longer than usual to try and add flesh to the wines because the acidity, even post-malo, is on the high side. The interesting thing is that from a tasting perspective, even with the high acidity the concentration is such that you don't really notice the structure. I think the '08s will be great in time as it's an old style vintage but the acid is ripe." As I have reported in the past, Cameron has been an advocate for decreasing the amount of wood used and he has been successful in this regard as it is considerably less than in the past and this trend continued in 2008 as both the Preuses and the Blanchots were raised in 100% stainless. By contrast, the Les Clos and Bougros are 100% raised in oak though not necessarily new wood. - Burghound