2002 Bonnes Mares

(just racked) Good full ruby. Aromas of black fruits, violet pastille, licorice, mace and cinnamon. Big and concentrated but youthfully tough, with flavors of black fruits, spices and tar. Showing the animal side of this grand cru. Hugely tannic today, and a bit musclebound for me. But there's a lot of wine here. (A sample of Romanee-Saint-Vivant, a two-barrel lot that Magnien did not vinify, showed a strong fruitcake quality and hints of surmaturite, then finished very dry. A Richebourg was at once slightly pruney and quite tough, with even greater ripeness than the RSV. These wines struck me as somewhat extreme, but may have been tasted at an awkward stage.)