2014 Maison Joseph Drouhin Bonnes Mares Grand Cru

(production here was 27 hectoliters per hectare): Bright, dark red. Reticent but ripe aromas of liqueur-like raspberry, peppery spices and licorice; shows an intriguing candied quality. Then plush, thick and powerful in the mouth, with cassis, blackberry and spice flavors coming across as dry and classic. The dark fruit flavors show subtle palate-staining length. This grand cru will need extended aging to express its inherent complexity but the tannins are not tough or dry even today.

The 2014 Bonnes Mares Grand Cru was cropped on September 19 and includes 15% whole cluster fruit, and unlike the Musigny, this had not been bottled. Deep in color, it has great volume and generosity on the nose with blackberry, boysenberry and wilted violet aromas. The fruit is more red than black, perhaps quite Vosne-like in style. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, clean and pure, quite refined with deftly integrated oak. Curiously, it comes across as linear on the finish. This is a strict Bonnes-Mares with good tension, a Bonnes-Mares that does not want to let its hair down at the moment. I'd like to see just a little more flamboyance once in bottle.

15% whole cluster. 17 months in oak. Dark cherry red with a blue caste on the rim. Savoury, smoky dark-red fruit. Lean, graphite, fine-boned and dry. Elegant and savoury, the tannins dry but super-fine. No attempt to please at the moment but there’s a fine graphite character that I am sure will step aside to reveal more aromatic charm. More structured than the Musigny. Opens up in the glass to redder fruit and more fragrance. (JH)