2015 Domaine Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Bonnes Mares Grand Cru

Bright medium red. Slightly sauvage but fresh aromas of blueberry, raspberry, leather and earth. Suave on entry, then intense and firm in the middle palate, with its black fruit and spice flavors energized by strong minerality. Finishes very long, with serious building, dusty tannins. Mugnier says he finds a slight finishing coarseness here owing to the drought conditions in July of '15, which delayed the ripening of the tannins, but to my palate they are supported by the wine's dry extract.

His parcel is in middle of the vineyard, on a mix of terres rouges and blanches . It's a small parcel so was assembled from the start. Fred thinks that in each climat the magic is to have big diversity which makes the wine complex, rich and well balanced. Separating the soils seems erroneous to him. He has quite young vines in half of his parcels, about 30 years old, and he thinks that’s when they start to really produce quality. Sturdy nose. Quite a bit of carbon dioxide in here but it makes for an absolutely gorgeous wine. Lots of freshness. Very beautiful. Definitely not fruit juice! Very special energy. Intense and tense. More like Chambolle, he thinks. (JR)

Deep red with ruby tones. Slightly leathery reduction to the deep aromas of dark berries, licorice and subtle brown spices. Velvety and highly concentrated; tactile but quite closed in the early going. Hiding its primary fruit today but this very deep soil-driven wine boasts excellent extract and an intriguing wildness. The ripe tannins are very well integrated from the start.