List Price:
$469.95
Scores:
WA 92 / IWC 90-93 / BH 96
Type: Still
Country: France
Region: Burgundy
District/Appelation: Chambolle-Musigny
Vineyard: Bonnes-Mares
Designation: Grand Cru
Varietal(s): Pinot Noir
REVIEWS:
Wine Advocate / 92
Black raspberry with horehound aromas in Drouhin’s 2005 Bonnes Mares lead to a sappy, intense palate of black raspberry and pungent herbal essence with notes of caramel and cocoa, and to a finish of persistent fruit intensity. Here is another of those cases where imposing richness coexists with bright, indeed almost electrically energetic fresh fruit intensity. This lacks the riveting complexity of the best wines here today but will be a force to reckon with in 8-10 years. These 2005s were bottled around two months earlier than usual, says Frederic Drouhin, to retain freshness. (Long-time oenologue Laurence Jobard, incidentally, was replaced this year by Jerome Faure-Brac.) As is always the case, fruit from a great many properties owned or accessed by Drouhin is declassified and blended out, leaving only selected terroirs as the subjects of single-site bottlings. (In 2004, for example, even the Beaune Clos des Mouches – due to hail – was declassified into lip-smacking, remarkably soothing Cote de Beaune.) That said, as befits the quality of 2005, there were more individual bottlings from this vintage than is usual, and I did not taste all of them. (Wines from the Drouhin domaine holdings display a “D” in their listing.) This year’s collection radiates class from top to bottom. Even Drouhin’s ubiquitous, 25,000-case generic “Laforet” displays tender, ripe cherry fruit, a silky palate and iodine-like minerality.
International Wine Cellar / 90-93
''Medium red. Spicy aromas of briary red berries and blueberry, wild herbs, mocha and pepper. Concentrated, powerful and tight, with a medicinal cast and noteworthy energy to the vibrant flavors of briary berries, herbs and spices. Conveys an impression of firm acidity: this is all about energy and thrust today. Finishes firmly tannic and tight, in need of a good eight to ten years of bottle aging. This could hardly be more different in style from the comparatively creamy Amoureuses.'' - ST
Burghound / 96
''A spicy, ripe and pure nose of floral red pinot fruit and rose petals possesses nuances of menthol, earth and a slight whiff of the sauvage that can also be found on the rich, serious and powerful big-bodied flavors that are sleekly muscled and very firmly structured yet they remain balanced, cool and harmonious on the monumentally long finish. This seems less structured than it really is as the abundant sap renders them less prominent if not invisible. While 15 to 20 years should see this at its apogee, this will still be alive and well at 50 years of age.'' - AM