Buying options

Tasting Notes

Tasting notes
Score 95/100 · Stephen Tanzer, Vinous, Mar 2011

Moderately saturated medium red. Pungent raspberry, cherry, menthol, smoke and crushed stone on the nose. Lush, deep and sweet, with compelling complexity and pungent minerality to the avors of dark raspberry, blood orange, stone and spices. Dense and seamless but with a magically light touch thanks to underlying minerality and the bright tangy acidity of the year. Pure liquid pleasure, nishing with ne-grained tannins and outstanding lift and perfume. A beauty.

Critic Scores

Critic scores
93
93/100

Average Score

95
95/100

Stephen Tanzer, Vinous

94
94/100

Allen Meadows, Burghound

More reviews and scores

91 points
David Schildknecht, Wine Advocate
Score 91/100 · David Schildknecht, Wine Advocate, Jun 2010

Lightly-cooked black raspberry, smoke, and dusty crushed stone mark the nose of Bouchard’s 2008 Bonnes Mares, which generates a surprisingly soft and rounded not to mention rich palate impression for its high acid vintage and typically feisty appellation. Licorice, vanilla, and notes of game well-up in a long, soothing, black raspberry sherbet-dominated but relatively low-energy finish. Prost thinks Bonnes Mares is especially susceptible to and, in this instance, still suffering from bottle shock. I would not want to bet against this flourishing for at least 12-15 years, but suspect that its personality is temporarily damped and perhaps even a bit distorted. Director-winemaker Philippe Prost made no attempt to minimize the challenges of 2008 and was careful to distinguish between its wind-borne concentration and genuinely ideal phenolic maturity (approached more nearly this year in white than red). He opined that the wide window afforded for relaxed picking despite the late calendar date was critical, since the levels of ripeness were so disparate from one site to another. That said, he showed me an outstanding collection of Pinots. Ironically, as he pointed out, ripeness was also disparate in one of the two earliest vintages on record, 2007, yet picking – while fitful – was anything but relaxed due to the pressure of rot. And here, too, Bouchard scored excellent successes. By means of, where necessary, “swapping lees” between barrels to inoculate stubborn lots, Prost says he was able to get all of his 2008s through malo-lactic conversion in timely fashion, which he considers especially important with Pinot. Bottling of the 2008 reds – with a few exceptions mentioned in my notes and due to have been bottled in April – took place in December and January, the same schedule adopted for their 2007s. I did not have an opportunity to taste nearly all of Bouchard’s vast collection from either vintage, and have in the text of my notes indicated a few from among their 2008s that I take to represent significant omissions. (I have not noted “Domaine” to distinguish those wines that are part of the Bouchard, except in cases where there is another otherwise eponymous wine.)

94 points
Allen Meadows, Burghound
Score 94/100 · Allen Meadows, Burghound, Apr 2010

Like the Bèze, this is stunningly complex with ripe, layered and unusually expressive red berry fruit aromas that are cool and airy with background notes of cassis liqueur, all trimmed in a subtle touch of wood that gives way to the explosive, powerful, and seriously concentrated big-bodied and mineral-infused flavors that possess fine detail and almost painful intensity on the reserved, firm and youthfully austere finish that is hugely long. This is balanced and brooding yet quite stylish.

Related articles

About the producer

Bouchard Père & Fils - Producer
Bouchard Père & Fils

Bouchard Père & Fils is one of Burgundy’s oldest and most established wine producers. Founded in 1731 by Michel Bouchard, it is the largest vineyard owner in the Côte d’Or with 130 hectares of vines.

View Producer

Product details

Country / Region
Category

Wine

Product Type

Still wine