Barboursville Octagon 2008

The other evening, Chris and I attended a birthday party for our 12-year old grandson. The main attraction for the adult crowd was the opening of a 12-year old bottle of Barboursville Octagon. 

Octagon is the flagship wine of Barboursville Vineyards. We have visited the winery on many occasions and even enjoyed a behind the scenes tour of how the wines are selected for Octagon, which is a blend. It is reported that Octagon is one of the wines that has been served at State Dinners and in the White House. 

This particular bottle of Octagon had been purchased at the winery during a visit a few years ago and it seemed perfect that it would be opened to celebrate the birthday. 

According to Cellartracker, the optimal drinking period for the Octagon 2008 was 2013-2017, and so this being 2020 it was possible that the wine would be hopelessly over-the-hill. The wine was opened about an hour before we were to drink it and, well, we were pleasantly surprised. I did not notice any visual signs of a wine that is past its time. The nose was, however, slight and the fruit flavors were very subdued but still recognizable. The tannins were gone and the mouth feel was very smooth, but unremarkable. The wine was past peak, the layers and complexity were gone, but it was still very drinkable and enjoyable. While the remaining bottles of this vintage likely do not have many months left, this bottle was consumed by adoring fans!

-- Bob and Christina Doan, Elkridge, MD