2011 Bonnes Mares

Bright dark red. Explosive nose and palate combine liqueur-like raspberry, wild herbs, smoked meat, mocha, pepper and underbrush. Rich, lush and pliant, conveying a higher-pH mouth feel than Boillot's other 2011s from the Cote de Nuits (in fact, the pH here is the highest of all of these 2011s, at 3.53). Very concentrated wine, and easy to taste today owing to its mouthfeel. Spreads out to saturate the entire palate, finishing with very smooth, sweet tannins and terrific peppery lift. This wine finished its malolactic early, in March, whereas most of the rest of Boillot's 2011 reds finished in August.