2013 Bonnes Mares Grand Cru Øko La Vougeraie

Complex and distinguished, this opens with an exotic, musky perfume and creamy red fruits. It's very finely drawn, with lovely purity of juicy fruit, fine tannins and quality oak which is a touch present at the moment. Long and concentrated, this may not be a big, brooding Bonnes-Mares, but it's undeniably a very elegant one.

Good medium red. Very ripe, soil-driven aromas of mocha, game, tobacco and cocoa powder. Strong red fruit and spice flavors emerge on the wonderfully dense, sweet palate, with an element of saline minerality providing another dimension. The wine's superb energy gives the highly concentrated fruit a bulletproof quality. Impressively dense and large-scaled for the year, finishing with substantial ripe tannins and excellent balance and length. Vincent's wines have been distinctly fresher and firmer since 2010 as he's now picking a bit earlier to avoid surmaturité.