2011 Domaine Dujac, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru

The 2011 Bonnes-Mares is dark, powerful and racy. Some of the typical Bonnes-Mares structure is tempered in this vintage, making the wine a little more accessible than it usually is. Menthol, licorice, dried herbs, smoke and dark stone fruits blossom in a dark, virile Burgundy that should provide thrilling drinking for the next 30 years or so. Although I don't think the 2011 will take as long as most vintages to blossom, it will need at least a decade to start to open up. A recent bottle of the 1993 was stratospheric and showed no signs whatsoever of fading.

This is highly expressive, indeed unusually so for very young Bonnes Mares, and offers up nothing short of a kaleidoscopic array of scents that include a wide range of floral, earth, stone and mostly red berry fruit aromas. There is fine if not special density and focused power to the big-bodied flavors that are overtly powerful and quite muscular yet there is no trace of rusticity or absence of refinement to the hugely long finish. This is a succulent yet formidable Bonnes Mares that should amply reward those who have the (considerable) patience to wait for its full maturity. Drink: 2028+
-Burghound.com Tasted: Jan 15, 2014

Good bright red. Musky, dark, brooding aromas of black raspberry, black cherry, coffee and pepper. Suave, smooth and concentrated but youthfully closed today, showing less early sweetness than the Clos Saint-Denis. Offers hints of chocolate and cocoa as well as an herbal element that appears to be part of the vintage character here. Finishes firmly tannic and quite long.

The 2011 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru has a vivacious, ripe, blackberry and blueberry- scented bouquet with impressive delineation and mineralite. The palate is medium-bodied with a supple opening, exhibiting superior concentration and suppleness compared to the Clos Saint Denis or Clos de la Roche and seems to revel in the vintage better. It does not quite have the length of a tiptop Bonnes-Mares, but it should age well in the context of the vintage. Drink 2015-2025. I have been visiting Jeremy and Alec Seysses at Domaine Dujac for several years now, and it is always one of my favorite ports of call. Alec, looking surprisingly chipper for a new dad had taken time off nappy duty to guide me through the 2011s this year. I have to confess that I was concerned by the conspicuous nature of the new oak on both their negociant label wines and the entry Village Crus. I felt that 35% new oak tended to overwhelm the fruit and terroir and occasionally impart drying finishes, which is why my scores are parsimonious here. As I tasted through the range toward the flock of Grand Crus the oak seemed better assimilated, although I would still maintain that the wine is of such quality that the present level of oak risks being superfluous to requirements. All the negociant label wines were bottled before Christmas. Importers: The Sorting Table, Napa, CA; tel. (415) 491-4724; Chambers & Chambers Wine Merchants, San Francisco, CA; tel. (415) 642-5500