2011 Bonnes Mares

The 2011 Bonnes-Mares is simply magnificent. Light on its feet and graceful, as it so often is, the 2011 graces the palate with simply extraordinary finesse. Dark cherries, plums, graphite, cloves and menthol continue to blossom as the wine opens up in the glass.

The 2011 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru is much more immediate and precocious than the Amoureuses with ebullient blueberry and cassis fruit aligned with fragrant violet and rose petal scents. This boasts a quintessential, intoxicating Bonnes-Mares bouquet. The palate is supple on the entry with a lovely fatness in the mouth. There is a joie-de-vivre and gaiety about this Bonnes-Mares before the finish, which is more tempered and refined. This is a grand cru that keeps you on your toes and is beautifully crafted. Drink 2017+. I was delighted to return to the home of Frederic Mugnier in the cluster of houses that make up the village of Chambolle, his perhaps the grandest and most imposing. Those are not adjectives that would describe the man himself, ever congenial and humble when I met him at the domaine. I was there to taste his 2012s in barrel, but with some free time before my next appointment he kindly offered to show me his bottled 2011s. This is a producer whose wines I have warmed to in recent years. When I commenced my Burgundy odyssey in the 1990s I felt that his wines were outshone by his neighbor Christophe Roumier and felt that they did not quite reach their full potential. However, in recent vintages Frederic has really honed his style and to me he seems more comfortable with the level of new wood that he is using, even countenancing the idea of a grand cru sans new oak. The wines seem “happier,” as banal as that sounds. But they just sang from bottle with freshness, verve, personality and charm – facets of a great Burgundy wine. Most of these cuvees would have been allocated on release, but I am sure some 2011s remain available and they come highly recommended. A Becky Wasserman Selection, Le Serbet, various American importers, including: Martin Scott Wines, Little Neck, NY; tel. (516) 327-0808; Veritas Imports, Beverly Hills, CA; tel. (310) 205-3803; Toepfer Imports LLC, CO; tel. (303) 818-7640

(racked in September): Good bright red. Musky black raspberry, humus and medicinal herbs on the nose. Juicy, spicy and ripe, with good density and energy to its crushed raspberry fruit. A tad dry on the finish, and not showing the lift of the best vintages. Am I catching this in an awkward stage?