The 2008 vintage in Haut-Médoc
Vintage benchmark: 91/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)
Vintage character: A bright late season saved a cool summer: wines of unexpected freshness and aromatic precision.
Overall reading of the year’s season across Haut-Médoc. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.
Tasting
The delicate, powerful nose delivers, in successive waves, notes of fruit in eau-de-vie, ripe black cherries and menthol. A deep garnet red with violet highlights magnifies the brilliance of this wine. Endowed with rich, velvety tannins that envelop a firm, fresh texture, the structure of this wine is rich and dense, with touches of fresh thyme, black pepper and camphor. The lively, fruity finish is underlined by notes of incense that so often seem to define the Agassac terroir. As it opens up, the aromatic presence of kirsch-soaked fruit notes takes shape. Notes of black cherry (against a backdrop of cold smoke) are confirmed, supported by a vanilla-tinged oak that is present without ostentation. With a little oxygenation, minerality appears, gracing us with chalky notes and warm stones.
Blend of the 2008 vintage
- 55 % Cabernet-sauvignon
- 45 % Merlot
Shares for this vintage, as recorded on the 2008 technical sheet. The vineyard itself is planted with 53 % merlot, 44 % cabernet sauvignon, 3 % cabernet franc — a vintage blend departs from the area under vine as the year dictates.
Winemaking
23 temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, maceration of 3 to 4 weeks.
Ageing
12 months, 60% in new barrels and 40% in tank.
Terroir
The estate's two great assets lie in the quality of its terroir and in its precious capital of old vines. The terroir, with its warm, well-drained deep gravel soils and its exposure to the sun, is marked by a very early-ripening character, and Agassac is often the first to harvest in the region. The vineyard, made up of two walled blocks totalling 42 hectares, consists mainly of old vines — 40 years old on average across 22 hectares — which form the qualitative heart of production. Since 1997 the picture has been reshaped by grubbing up certain less worthy parcels and by planting Cabernet on the finest gravel soils, until then unplanted.
An offer on Château d'Agassac 2008
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Texts and documents 2008
The texts below copy in one click for your product sheets, catalogues and social channels. The printable sheet condenses the whole page onto a single A4 page.
Visuals
This wine’s visuals are grouped in the media library. High-definition packshots, labels, back labels and lifestyle photos are reserved for clients and partners, on the Compagnie Médocaine’s VinCod media library.
Sheet checked on September 21, 2026. Technical data: the estate’s VinCod sheets. Critic scores: sources cited above, with their date. Vintage benchmarks and character: Compagnie Médocaine’s own editorial read. Soils and relief, where shown: the Compagnie Médocaine’s parcel survey and the Mapbox/IGN terrain model.