Reviews

The 2009 Bonnes-Mares is wonderfully nuanced and detailed. It is easily the most reticent of the estate's 2009 grand crus. The wine's energy and length come through most clearly at this stage. The Bonnes-Mares deserves to be cellared for at least a few years, but its pedigree is ample and significant even today. Readers will need to be patient.

One panelist compared the harmonic power of this wine to a night at the opera in the first row. The wine’s energy has that sophistication and refinement, buzzing with limestone and mushroom earthiness, more focused on bass notes of umami and high-toned florals than any sweetness of fruit. Cellar this and you should be amply rewarded in ten years’ time.

Cellar Selection. An interesting Pinot Noir, showing a bit of heat, but whose flavors are taut and complex. The usual cherries and cola you find in almost all California Pinot Noirs are grounded with meaty notes, like grilled hamburger, finished with a splash of tamari. Such are the tannins and acids that the wine should age gracefully for a good eight years, but you can drink it now.

Cellar Selection. A very fine Pinot Noir, dry and elegantly constructed, but it needs a little time in the cellar. That’s due to the tannins, which are thick and noticeable in the way they create an astringency through the finish. The flavors are exceptionally rich, suggesting cherries, raspberries and tobacco, with a welcome sweetness from toasty oak. — S.H. (4/1/2012)

The freshness of this wine is almost explosive, crackling with floral scents, bees­wax and the funky corn notes of huitlacoche. It’s fresh cream underneath, smooth­ing all that tension and suggesting that you decant a bottle for roast grouper.

Cellar Selection. Give this dry elegant Pinot 4-5 years in the cellar to soften and mellow. Right now, the tannins dominate, making it tough. Underneath are fascinatingly earthy flavors of cherries, cola, mushrooms and exotic spices.