Meo Camuzet Richebourg Grand Cru 2008 750ml

Burghound.com, Jan 30, 2010
A very fresh, expressive, pure and stunningly spicy nose of notably ripe black and purple pinot fruit and a host of subtle Asian spice nuances, including star anise, hoisin and soy that are in keeping with the deep, serious, tautly muscled and mineral-suffused broad shouldered flavors brimming with dry extract that really coats the palate on the vibrant, precise, mineral-driven and hugely long finish that is linear but less austere than usual. An excellent '08 with terrific development potential.

Domaine Méo-Camuzet is a wine producer located in Vosne-Romanée in the Côte de Nuits. It produces some of the most celebrated wines from the Côte d'Or from a range of grand cru vineyards, including Richebourg, Clos de Vougeot, Corton and Echézeaux. Most of Méo-Camuzet's wines are made from Pinot Noir, and are known for their delicate aromatic concentration.
The founder of the estate was Etienne Camuzet, an early 20th Century politician based in Paris who offered parts of his estate to a variety of sharecroppers to farm. Eventually it came into the hands of Jean-Nicholas Méo in 1986, who realised that the extensive sharecropping meant that only a small portion of vines were under the domaine's control. He set out a long-term strategy to regain the plots from the sharecroppers who were currently working them, with the goal of eventually having estate-grown fruit and bottling under his own label, Méo-Camuzet.
One of these landholders was iconic Burgundy producer Henri Jayer. He had farmed the domaine's land to bottle under his own label for about 40 years. He retired in 1988 and helped to advise Jean-Nicholas on the reacquisition of his vines. Meo-Camuzet now has 14 hectares (35 acres) of vine, including a part of the Cros Parantoux Premier Cru site, which was made famous by Jayer.