2019 Bonnes Mares, Grand Cru, Domaine Denis Mortet, Burgundy

The 2019 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru has a very delineated and intense bouquet, more tertiary than some of Mortet's other 2019s. It smells of black fruit, tilled loam, fern, and cracked black pepper. There is a very slight broodiness about this Bonnes-Mares, more introspective than its peers. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins. Again, it is quite earthy and a little austere, especially following the more outgoing Clos de Vougeot. I admire this Bonnes-Mares rather than love it, but maybe I just caught it on a sullen day.

Drink 2023 - 2038

From a .35 ha parcel with vines in the Terres Blanches portion.

A ripe and layered but cool and equally restrained nose features elegant violet and rose petal aromas, earth-suffused red and dark cherry, and spice nuances. Here, too, there is very fine volume to the intense, palate-staining, and evidently muscular flavours that coat the mouth with dry extract while offering a superbly persistent and quite firmly structured finish. This equally serious effort will also require extended patience, but it should more than be worth the considerable wait.

Drink from 2037 onward

The richest purple colour to date, brilliantly sensual, ripe but picked at the perfect moment. Two-thirds whole bunch vinification adds a little peppery touch. The Bonnes-Mares is more opulent than the stricter Mazis-Chambertin, with flourishing deep ripe fruit to finish. I would not want it to be riper.