2005 Bonnes Mares
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Tasting notes
Christophe Roumier’s 2005 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru performed exactly how I expected. Still youthful in appearance, it has a fabulous bouquet with blueberry, raspberry coulis, violet and incense notes, a touch of sous-bois that surfaces with time. This is exuberant and sumptuous if still very young. The palate is medium-bodied and perhaps more backward than the aromatics. This is underpinned by tightly-wound tannins that feel a tad obdurate, a little more black fruit than I expected with a touch of white pepper, a more sinewy take on Bonnes-Mares that requires six to eight more years in bottle. Don’t touch for now. Tasted at Taillevent restaurant in Paris.
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David Schildknecht, Vinous
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Dark glowing garnet. Intense yet somehow hugely subtle nose. Smudge and smoke. Wonderfully rewarding; you just know you could keep coming back to this over many an hour and find something new. Great freshness and focus. Super juicy. So precise. So energetic. Great freshness and substance. The closest fruit simile is some sort of plum (because of the acid/bitter balance). But of course it is so much more than that. A hint of orange peel? Great texture. (JR)
Roumier vinifies separately and later assembles the fruits of white chalk and red (iron-rich) parcels that inform his 2005 Bonnes Mares. At the time of my visit he had retained one pure barrel of each component as an investigation into terroir and the results were as fascinating as the blended wine is fascinatingly and profoundly beautiful. The ferrous lot (55% of the final assemblage) displays ripe blackberry and raspberry berries, along with (red soil-born) pungent smokiness, Chartreuse-like herbal and floral essences. A liqueur-like presentation of black fruits temporarily overshadows the mysterious (white rock-born) meld of chalky minerality and beef marrow that wells up gradually on a creamy palate with tannins of utmost refinement. The tension and energy are riveting – lending the wine a dynamic, fleet-of-foot impression for all of its manifestly huge extract – with incisive brightness of palate-staining fruit and vibrant minerality leading to a finish of sensational clarity and length. Even here, by the way, Roumier employs only around 40% new wood. One senses that Christophe Roumier considers 2005 a high point of his career, and my visit with him was among the high points of my recent trip. He describes this as “a classic vintage lending itself to very calm, classic vinification,” which given the opportunities afforded by perfectly healthy, firm, dry, ripe fruit involved triage almost solely to remove ladybugs, and included around 25% whole clusters in the fermenters at the Premier Cru level and 50% at that of Grand Cru. Importer: Diageo Chateau and Estate Wines Company, New York, NY; tel. (212) 419-1400.
About the producer
Based in Chambolle-Musigny, the domaine was established by Georges Roumier in 1924. The domaine started to bottle their own wines in 1945.