This is the second vintage of this wine for me. The first (the '07) was wildly successful. Which both did and didn't surprise me. Didn't: Because, very simply, it was a great wine, well made, reflecting the grape varieties used in it and the place it came from. Did: Many of us, whether we realize it or not, prefer our whites on the insipid side, leaving the complexity and power for the reds in our drinking lives.The '07 Blanc du Moulin, like the 2008, is a BIG wine. Big in the sense that Rhône-style whites just are. The 2007 clocked in at a healthy 14.4% alcohol level. And it could have been higher, but Alexis Pouillon put the brakes on.

The 2008 is a tick more at 14.5%. Crazy. But not really. Alcohol, like any other piece of a wine's puzzle, is a releative measurement. When the wine is in balance, the alcohol, like the acidity, like the tannins, like the oak employed (if there is any), nothing sticks out. The 2008 actually came across to me as showing less alcohol than the '07. Go figure.

The cèpage (a fancy-sounding French word—in fairness, all French words sound fancy—for the grape mix) is noticeably different in the '08. It is 80% roussanne with the balance being viognier. Last year's was 60% roussanne/40% viognier. Why the change? Just because that's the way the Pouillons thought they needed to go based on the growing season in '08.

The '08, like the '07, is rich and redolent of all sorts of flowers and stone fruit. When it's a bit chilled, it's all roussanne, showing honeysuckle, apple blossom and paraffin. As it warms, the viognier emerges in texture and honeyed apricot notes. But don't call it sweet. It's simply very, very ripe.

200 cases produced; 10 months aging in 5-year-old neutral Burgundian oak.

GET IT AT

Frankly Wines for $21/bottle

Martin Brothers for $17.99/bottle

Suburban for $19.99/bottle

Winesby.com for $20/bottle

Annisa for $45/bottle

West Side Steakhouse for $38/bottle