Bonnes Mares, Grand Cru, 2018
More muscle than the Clos de Beze, but jaw-dropping for its intensity and drive. Statuesque and powerful but toned and not overbearing. Awe-inspiring flavours of forest berry, cherry, cherry stone, sloe, minerals and blood orange. A wave of flavour that sweeps across and exhilarates the palate. Incredible. One tiny parcel of 0.12 ha is situated on the Chambolle side of the vineyard. The predominant core of this cuvée comes from two parcels in the Morey commune, one of which is next to Clos de Tart. One part was planted in 1946 another in 1980. This makes Bruno Clair the only producer with Bonnes Mares vines within the Morey St Denis commune. Bruno describes the wine as being three quarters from red soil based vines and one quarter white limestone marne-based soils, resulting in a wine of great intensity and vigour.
critic reviews
The 2018 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru displays dark berry fruit, loam and light iris flower scents on the nose, quite strict at first and only gradually unfurling in the glass, holding something back. There is just a touch of reduction. The palate is medium-bodied and quite chalky, with grainy tannins. Very fresh, which is impressive considering the warm summer. My quibble is with some coarse tannins, mainly wood tannins, which dry out the finish. It will be interesting to see how this matures in bottle. Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2018 red tasting.