2013 Bonnes Mares

Deep red-ruby. Wild blueberry, blackberry, licorice and herbs on the nose, with piquant accents of black pepper and violet building with air. Dense, juicy and youthfully imploded, with dark berry flavors complicated by game and leather nuances. Doesn't show the sweetness or early volume of the Amoureuses but this very silky, seamless wine softened nicely with aeration. Really saturates the mouth and builds on the juicy back end.

(70% vendange entier ; one-third new oak): Bright, dark red. Very dark aromas of blackberry, blueberry and boysenberry complicated by mocha, pepper, mint, crushed stone and underbrush. Dense, broad and sappy, showing a restrained sweetness and outstanding incipient complexity to the flavors of red and dark fruits, pepper, rosemary and thyme. The wine's creamy texture and considerable fat are leavened by underlying minerality. Finishes with substantial but suave tongue-dusting tannins and terrific length, leaving lavender and blackberry scents behind in the empty glass. The Groffiers have more red soil than white in their Bonnes-Mares parcel but Nicolas told me he's making this wine more like a Chambolle than a Morey.

Tasted blind at the Burgfest tasting in Beaune, the 2013 Bonnes Mares Grand Cru was showing quite a lot of fruit extraction on the nose, darker than the Bonnes-Mares from either Bruno Clair or Domaine de la Vougeraie: blackberry and wild strawberry scents mixed with sous-bois and tobacco. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, a fine line of acidity with good density. This is a mouth-filling and voluminous Bonnes-Mares with a tarty, spicy finish that suggests this should age well in bottle. Tasted September 2016. Nov 2016, www.robertparker.com