2008 Bonnes Mares

Bright medium red. Strawberry, licorice and pepper on the nose. Supple and densely packed, with complex, savory flavors of dark berries, game and roasted herbs along with a saline element. Quite suave in texture; less citrussy than the Amoureuses and more obviously soil-driven. A fruity, rather polite style of Bonnes-Mares but boasts enticing inner-mouth perfume. This still youthfully closed wine finishes with sneaky rising length.

The Groffier 2008 Bonnes Mares delivers a savage and site-typical blast of berry concentrate, horehound, smoked meat, juniper, and a whiff of pitch. Sweetly ripe red raspberry and strawberry tinged with citrus oil and herbs on a silken and juicily bright palate convey an almost white wine-like sense of enervation, and only in the gripping, attractively bitter-tart finish does one become aware of this Pinot’s abundant, fine tannins. This seems to have energy to burn and I wouldn’t hesitate to plan on 6-8 years of watchful cellaring. Nicolas Groffier seems not to have been bashful when it comes to extracting flavors from the family’s 2008 grapes (harvested in a mere 5 days, finishing October 1), despite what he emphasizes was the tiny size of both yields and berries. When it comes to elevage, though, he was cautious even at a risk he acknowledges of wines that might show stiffly and reductively for a while after bottling, having racked the young 2008s into tank after just shy of 12 months, which for some lots meant almost immediately after the conclusion of malo. (Bottling sessions were in December and February). Natural alcohols in 2008 were in the upper 12’s (the 2007s were very slightly higher) and typically adjusted by about a quarter of a degree. A Peter Vezan Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011 33 1 42 55 42 93, also imported by Atherton Imports, Menlo Park, CA; sales@awiwine.com

Very good deep red. Aromas of blueberry, blackberry, tar and leather. Supple, round and ripe; began with less cut than the Amoureuses and Sentiers but seemed to gain freshness with air. Spreads out impressively on the ripely tannic back end, leaving behind strong soil tones and a musky note of huckleberry.