If there’s anything that the 2008 vintage did well, it was to divide opinion. Today saw the release of the Wine Spectator’s final in-bottle scores for Bordeaux 2008, as judged by James Suckling’s successor, James Molesworth. In comparison with Parker’s generous scores, and even Suckling’s less than glowing reviews, James Molesworth’s scoring seems remarkably strict, with the top achievers receiving just 94 points. For Molesworth, the standouts were Latour, Leoville Las Cases, Mouton and Ausone, though the cirtic recommends that the majority of wines be drunk by 2020.
But what of Parker’s four potential 100-pointers – Lafite, Petrus, Trotanoy and Ausone? All three critics seem to agree that Ausone was one of the stars of the vintage, but Lafite 08 is clearly a point of contention. Having been awarded the shortest possible barrel-score-spread of 98-100 from Parker, and just 91-94 from Suckling, the First Growth received a meagre 92 points from Molesworth. (Petrus and Trotanoy were awarded 93 and 92 points respectively.) Other interesting results include Haut Brion at 92 points (RP 95-97; JS 93-96) and Mission Haut Brion at 90 points (RP 94-96+; JS 91-94).
The table below shows Molesworth’s top ten wines alongside their scores from his peers. These are some of the only wines that were awarded scores at the top end of Suckling's barrel-score spread.
Source: erobertparker.com and winespectator.com
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