2015 - Bonnes Mares Grand Cru, Georges Roumier

Tasted blind, Roumier's 2015 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru is quite reticent, unfurling in the glass with a youthfully reserved bouquet of cherries, cassis, dark chocolate, peonies and espresso roast. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, deep and powerful, with a strikingly concentrated and multidimensional core, an ample endowment of rich, satiny tannin and a long, chewy finish. This is a ripe but structural wine that will demand—and reward—considerable patience: it's likely to prove one of the most long-lived red Burgundies of the vintage.

The 2015 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru is a scintillating wine - always has been. Dark cherries and still that hint of bergamot on the nose that shimmers with youthful delight, perfectly in tune with the oak. Perhaps a little more mineralité than I recall. It oddly seems to tighten up with aeration instead of opening! The palate is medium-bodied with pointed acidity that imparts plenty of tension, slightly granular in texture, and almost linear with a hint of black olive compote towards the bitter-edged finish. Superb. Tasted at Maison de Colombier in Beaune.

Tank sample. 30% new oak. ‘Terres rouges’ is very close to the northern limit of the appellation, with Morey. Taille identical. ‘Terres blanches’ is above the path that dissects the Bonnes Mares. Roumier has six parcels now (1.89 ha) from the far north to the far south. Sample quite reduced. For the moment it’s a little under par and understated. It’s all stonily there but not expressing itself. (JR)