Reviews & Scores
The cool essence of red pinot fruit is cut with plenty of earth along with background notes of violet, lavender and tea. The palate impression of the big-bodied flavors is more powerful still if less refined and I very much like the focus on the hugely long but very firmly structured finish. The Bonnes Mares chez Dujac virtually always ages exceptionally well and the 2016 version will be no exception. - BH
BH95January 2018
(production was down 30% due to the frost): Medium red. Classic Dujac Bonnes-Mares aromas of subtle red berries, brown spices and flowers; less dark than most other examples of Bonnes-Mares. Then juicy, savory and highly concentrated but youthfully imploded, showing superb inner-mouth tension but little in the way of easy sweetness. Still, this wine does not lose its thickness on the back end, finishing with darker cherry and brown spice notes and a firm tannic spine. A very classic style of 2016. (ST) - VM
VM95January 2018
The 2016 Bonnes Mares Grand Cru has a tightly wound bouquet, perhaps missing a little delineation at the moment, a little loamy in style at first. Then with rigorous swirling of the glass, it gets its act together and provides the voluptuousness that signposts a great Bonnes Mares. The palate is medium-bodied with a ripe and generous entry countered by a fine line of acidity. It feels slightly confit in style with a satisfying and long finish that fans out, as if this Bonnes Mares finally slips into fifth gear. Gorgeous. (NM) - WA
WA97December 2017
As I mentioned in the introduction, the Seysses family’s parcels in Bonnes-Mares had the bad luck to be hit by some frost and yields were down by a quarter in 2016. The remaining wine is stellar and very nicely red fruity this year, delivering a fine nose of cherries, red plums, woodsmoke, gamebird, mustard seed, chalky soil tones and cedar. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and very pure on the attack, with a rock solid core, lovely focus and nascent complexity, seamless, fine-grained tannins and a very long, poised and vibrant finish. Great juice. (Drink between 2031-2080) - JG
JG95November 2017
After the perfumed elegance of the Clos-St-Denis, the Bonnes-Mares marks a return to a more sauvage register, its floral top-notes of wild rose and peony grounded in deeper bass notes of currant leaf, rich soil, roast espresso, gamebird and bitter chocolate. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied and firm at the core, with serious power, fine-grained tannic grip, excellent amplitude and dimension, and a long, stony finish. A superb wine, but the most in need of a protracted period in the cellar to realise all of its considerable potential. Drinking Window 2028 - 2050. (WK) - DC
DC95October 2017