2018 - Bonnes Mares Grand Cru, Georges Roumier

The 2018 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru from Roumier offers copious amounts of black cherries and blueberry fruit. It is still a "baby", though that doesn't make it unenjoyable, even if you cannot help thinking that it needs at least another decade. The palate is framed by those succulent tannins, one of the tropes of the growing season. There's a little more glycerine than I remember, with a powerful and still almost overwhelming finish that prompts me to be just a little more cautious with my score. Tasted at Le Benaton in Beaune.

Opening in the glass with aromas of ripe red fruits, rose petals, peonies, orange rind and exotic spices, Roumier's 2018 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru is full-bodied, multidimensional and concentrated, with a rich and layered mid-palate, a muscular chassis of powdery tannin and a bright, mineral finish. This is very much built for the long haul, but it has taken the warm vintage in its stride.

‘Terres rouges’ is very close to the northern limit, with Morey. ‘Terres blanches’ (ie lots of limestone) is above the path that dissects Bonnes Mares. Roumier had three parcels from far north to far south. Pruning identical. In 2016 he was able to include for the first time the fruit from an extra hectare (2.5 acres) of land owned by Ficofi (planted in 1995) on marly soil and this has increased the ‘saltiness’ of this wine, thinks Roumier, because two-thirds of their vines are on marl with lots of active lime, the other third on rock with clay and pebbles. Now they have six different parcels. Around 65% whole bunch. Barrel sample taken from a 2012 barrel.Deep, ripe fruit, very ripe but not overripe. Almost savoury/smoky. Much drier than I expected, a dark rocky quality that reins in the fruit that seemed so ripe on the nose. Dark and rocky, stony but not drying. Just all corseted. Long, with dynamic tension. Less obvious than some. More ‘robust’ than Ruchottes. More embryonic. Dark and hidden. (JH)