2019 Domaine Denis Mortet, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru

The 2019 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru wafts from the glass with aromas of raspberries, plums and pomegranate, mingled with hints of peonies, warm spices, orange rind and coniferous forest floor. Full-bodied, ample and perfumed, it's supple and enveloping, with a fleshy core of fruit, melting tannins and a long, saline, rose-inflected finish.

The 2019 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru has a very delineated and intense bouquet, more tertiary than some of Mortet's other 2019s. Scents 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, 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?