2022 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Bonnes Mares Grand Cru

The 2022 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru had been bottled in October 2023, just before my visit at the Domaine. It has a compact nose: mainly black cherries and crushed strawberry fruit, well-defined if maybe missing the amplitude of other Bonnes-Mares that I have tasted. The medium-bodied palate has a slightly creamy-textured opening, sweet blackberry and raspberry and touches of dark chocolate and mocha. There's fine depth on the finish with light grip. Some wood tannins mark the finish and slightly occlude the fruit expression here.

In bottle. Made as three cuvees, then assembled. A rich mid purple with a deliciously heady bouquet, the sumptuous side of dark raspberry, perfumed yet precise, purple fruit with some redder layers beneath, a little white pepper spice, multiple layers of fruit, very engaging with just a very slight youthful bitterness. Irreproachable.

We tasted an assortment of barrels from the 2022 vintage: one from the southern end of Bonnes-Mares, one from the middle, and one from the north. The portion from the south showed supple, elegant results with lovely fruit and impressive length. The center shows a lovely richness and density, and the sample from the northern end of the vineyard showed more reduction, but there was lovely finesse and an elegant raspberry note. The blend should produce one of the wines of the vintage in this appellation.