2014 Bonnes Mares Grand Cru La Vougeraie

Bright red berry fruit and floral notes and lovely purity on the nose. The palate is elegant but vigorous, with a beautiful mineral core that runs all the way to a long finish. Understated and very classy, with potential for at least 8 years improvement.

One of the earliest maturing sites in Bonnes Mares, this is a mixture of red and white soils. Rich, sumptuous and well upholstered, it's a classic interpretation of the Grand Cru with exuberant black fruits, a hint of fennel and liquorice and excellent oak integration. 2019-30 .

A strikingly complex if highly restrained nose brings together notes of admirably fresh red currant, plum, lavender, rose petal, earth and spice nuances that are also trimmed in just enough wood to notice. There is excellent volume to the big-bodied, intense and muscular yet seductively textured medium weight plus flavors, all wrapped in an overtly powerful and long finish. Plenty of patience will also be required.

Medium deep red, with a flamboyant bouquet including raspberry, blackberry and some garrigue notes, along with the white pepper of whole bunches. Very attractive, just a medium bodied Bonnes Mares but beautifully balanced with a graceful sweet fruit finish.

The 2014 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru, containing 80% whole cluster fruit this year, has a focused, delineated nose, perhaps missing the exuberance that this vineyard can bestow, but it unfurls nicely in the glass revealing touches of woodland and undergrowth (actually quite Musigny-like!). The palate is fresh on the entry with a fine line of acidity, great tension and focus here with a slightly tapered and yet long and tender finish. This is a sophisticated Bonnes Mares that is a little teasing out of barrel, but will grow up into a great, perhaps more 'serious' wine.

Very good deep, healthy red. The most floral of these 2014s, conveying lovely perfumed lift to the aromas of black fruits, spices and honeysuckle. Communicates wonderful ripeness and detail without any impression of heaviness or weight. Really superb energy here, no doubt partly due to the vinification with 80% whole clusters. Most impressive today on the very long, fine-grained finish, where the savory red fruit and blackberry flavors build slowly and linger long. This should be long-lived.

Bright red berry fruit and floral notes and lovely purity on the nose. The palate is elegant but vigorous, with a beautiful mineral core that runs all the way to a long finish. Understated and very classy, with potential for at least 8 years improvement.