1999 Bonnes Mares

The Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru 1999 has a quite exuberant bouquet that is very floral, like somebody shoving a bouquet of freshly picked violets under your nostrils. Looking further, one finds shaved black truffles and blackcurrant pastilles, aromatics that gain confidence and chutzpah with time. The palate is medium-bodied with black cherries and hints of tobacco. This is firm and quite rigid like many 1999s, impressive more than giving at the moment, a Bonnes-Mares that clearly requires another decade in bottle to show what it is capable of.

The 1999 Comte de Vogüé Bonnes-Mares (magnum) is big and concentrated, with considerable richness and no hard edges, but no real energy, either. Sadly, the 1999 Bonnes-Mares never fully comes together as the elements remain disjointed. This is an especially dark, heavy Bonnes-Mares with little vibrancy or sense of direction for a wine of this level.

(opened from personal storage). A brooding if not inexpressive nose features notes of earth, soft spice, dark and notably ripe dark berry fruit. There is outstanding concentration to the big-bodied firm, reserved, overtly powerful flavors that are underpinned by a still very solid wall of tannins on the sappy and somewhat austere finish that delivers outstanding length. This remains relatively closed and a wine that is clearly still on the way up. Consistent notes save for one recent bottle which exhibited just a touch of finishing dryness. Drink: From 2019+