Tasting Notes
Robert Parker 93-95
The 2013 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru has a beautiful bouquet with superb definition and seamlessly integrated oak, touches of truffle in the background and “mucking around” with the ebullient dark cherry fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with silky smooth tannins. There is a fine seam of acidity here, the tannins a little rigid at the moment with a linear but with a precise finish. This is a well-crafted Bonnes-Mares fulfilling exactly what a Bonnes-Mares ought to be. Look forward to seeing how it turns out in bottle. Once upon a time it was always Jeremy who received me at Domaine Dujac, but these days it is his brother Alec who escorted me down to the noisy, busy cellar, a refreshing hive of activity. Once we had finished a brief discussion on the trials of fatherhood (as misguided as my parenting tips forced upon Cécile Gagnard down in Chassagne), we commenced a tasting through both their négoçiant Dujac Fils & Père wines and of course, the domaine. “It was possibly the smallest vintage,” Alec told me, “certainly smaller than 2008, 2010 and 2012, yields hovering around 25hl/ha. There was poor flowering and a lot of sorting had to be done. But we had started off [the season] with low potential quantities. We now leaf-pluck quite aggressively and the fact that you have a lot of millerandé helps in a growing season such as 2013. I find that there are nice textures to the wine. It’s just that the summers have been rather wet so they are not high in sugar. We had to chaptalize, but not as much as in 2011 and we found 2013 to be above 2012 in natural sugar levels generally. We started picking with the Grand Crus on 30 September and finished with the Dujac Fils & Pères. The first morning of the harvest I was quite depressed because of the rot. I wanted to make good wines because my son was born in 2013. But I cheered up as the day went on as I could see the quality of fruit coming in. And as the grapes came in we destemmed less and less, from 60% and then 90% whole bunch, so actually some of the Fils & Père might have more stems.”
Anticipated maturity: 2018-2035
Vinous 94+
Deep red. Pungent cherry, licorice and wild herbs on the nose, lifted by exhilarating treble notes of blood orange and peony. Sharply delineated and tightly wound, dominated by its structure today. A more savory style than either the Clos Saint-Denis or Clos de la Roche, with dark berry, mineral and wild herb flavors carrying impressively on the extremely long, saline aftertaste.
Anticipated maturity: 2025-2039
