1999 Domaine de la Vougeraie Bonnes Mares- France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru (1/18/2015) End of 2014 wines: I served this wine non-blind. Mike brought out the Roumier and Jadot as a comparison. An intriguing spicy bouquet, with animale, feral and sous bois notes. The bouquet translates to the palate with tons of blood and fur (per Nick) and sauvage nuance. Gorgeous savoury, spicy fruit, with dark berry and damp earth and forest floor flavours. Excellent depth and concentration, the acids present but in good balance. Seemingly more evolved than the Roumier and out classed by it, but in some ways, as a wine to drink, a more interesting example of a Bonnes Mares. I’d say, coming into its drinking window now, but no hurry. (94 pts.)
1999 Domaine G. Roumier / Christophe Roumier Bonnes Mares- France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru (1/18/2015) End of 2014 wines: On bouquet, a full peacock’s tail of aromas. Everything you look for in a top Grand Cru burgundy bouquet. Stunning on palate, with lifted, primary fruit. Glossy, with a gorgeous mouthfeel and texture. Complex and multi-layered flavours, largely in the red fruit spectrum. Serious structure and tannins, huge concentration and fruit weight, but with real lightness and deftness of touch. Intense but brooding, with a huge amount to come in the next 20 years. But on the day, a beautiful wine to experience. A real treat, thanks Mike. (96 pts.)
1999 Louis Jadot Bonnes Mares- France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru (1/18/2015) End of 2014 wines: A lovely spicy nose, quite high toned, with aromas of cherries, mushrooms and undergrowth. Also some vanillan oak poking its head through. On palate, attractive, crystalline fruit, quite fresh and bright. This would have been a lovely wine on its own but its weaknesses were emphasised in the company of the other two Bonnes Mares. Serious Grand Cru power and fruit weight, but, to me, a little too worked and over extracted. There is a lot of oak here, yet to fully integrate and there seemed to be a hot ferment character. Long, but slightly drying on the finish, due to the oak artefact. On this basis, I’d probably give this wine five more years cellar time. Still, a very good wine, not disgraced in this company. (93 pts.)
It doesn’t get a lot of love but I agree. Before the 2005 price explosion it was my go to grand cru for the combination of quality, sentiment and price.
I’m surprised three 1999s would be showing so well. I’d been keeping my hands off. But since the only one of the above I own is the Jadot, thanks for encouraging me to keep my hands off it.
Yep - Bonnes Mares from good producers can be great with enough time in bottle. Slightly off topic - but - some good 1er juice can be found from CM Baudes which is just beside the Bonnes Mares vineyard!
Bonnes Mares, for me, is a wine to keep as long as any I know…to reach “maturity”. And, it often needs a long long time, too. I almost always pass over them when looking for a wine, as I think they’re too young…even from the '80s. Maybe I’m wrong.
Yes, Jon…the Baudes is a good consolation prize, though, other than from Hubert Lignier (whose Baudes I had recently from two mid-90s vintages), I don’t have any experience. I was, as a result, looking at its exposition, right below the BM, as the late Romain Lignier always described it as “baby” Bonnes Mares, and I think he was right.
In general I agree with this, the Roumier needs another 20+ years and probably will prove to be ageless, being 1999’s didn’t help drinking it in its youth. The Vougeraie was good, but not great in the Roumier company. The Jadot was very different in style as Howard points out, as you would expect from Jadot I guess, and again may well be just as long lived as it was very disjointed at this stage.
I am a BM fan and on occasion have prefered it to the superior de Vogue Musigny in particular years.
Funny you say that re: Musigny, Mike…as I have often, when visiting and tasting the lineup ot Roumier over the years (1988-2007; many visits)…found the BM more to my taste/pleasure. I think that’s more of a reflection of how good Roumier’s BM is/can be than the quality of the vineyards’ wines.
I don’t have enough meaningful experience with Musigny in bottle (as opposed to in barrel at three estates) to draw any conclusions about its wines, but…think of it as somewhat over-revered, especially vis a vis other grand crus from Chambolle or Morey.
Andy, I know that oak handling is often a criticism of Vougeraie but I didn’t have a problem with it on this wine. It seemed in proportion to me. I did give the wine a decent decant a few hours before …
In terms of the youth of the wines, it did the Jadot the least favours, I suspect. It would be interesting to revisit the Jadot in 10 or so years to see if it had come together more. And, even this young, the class of the Roumier shone through, even though it obviously has much more to give …
Great tasting Howard. Love Bonnes Mares, but a wine for the patient as has been noted. Unfortunately Roumier now a true rara avis, but manage to snaffle some Jadot most vintages. The children will appreciate my foresight:)
True about the Vogue Bonnes Mares outperforming the others during barrel tastings - this has been the case the last several times I’ve tasted there. The '10 Vogue BM is fantastic stuff - can’t wait to sample it over the next 2-3 decades!
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