2017 Maison Joseph Drouhin Bonnes Mares Grand Cru

The 2017 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru was picked on September 13 with around 35% whole cluster fruit. This has a generous, pure bouquet of black and blue fruit, delineated and focused if not quite as complex as the best Bonnes-Mares. The palate is sappy on the entry with grippy dark berry fruit, lightly spiced and quite sinewy. This year I prefer the femininity and terroir expression displayed by the Les Amoureuses. Not bad, but not my favorite among Drouhin’s Grand Crus. Two barrels produced.

Loads of blue-earth and gunmetal aromas with raspberries, blueberries and lemon zest. Full to medium body, chewy tannins and crunchiness and richness at the end. Linear, very tight and persistent on the finish. Bang! Give this a number of years to come around. Drink after 2022.

There are two barrels of the 2017 Bonnes Mares Grand Cru, a decidedly promising wine that wafts from the glass with aromas of cherries, cassis, dried peony, licorice and sweet soil tones. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, ample and layered, with superb concentration and depth for the vintage, framed by a broad-shouldered chassis of fine-grained but chalky tannin and underpinned by a lovely line of acidity.