Lucien Le Moine, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru 2014

Deep, bright medium red. Knockout nose combines dark raspberry, clove, licorice, white pepper, minerals and earth. Conveys incredible inner-mouth lift considering its thickness of texture and spicy intensity. Really spreads out to saturate the palate. Saline, superconcentrated, pungently mineral wine with a firm tannic spine, integrated acidity and extraordinary rising length and solidity. This is almost painful today. A great Bonnes-Mares: in the end, Mounir Saouma blended his lots from the Chambolle (two-thirds) and Morey (one-third) sides of the cru.

The 2014 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru, a blend of the north and south parts of the vineyard (here blended together) has a plush redcurrant, cranberry and strawberry scented bouquet with fine delineation. The palate is crisp and taut with red cherries and wild strawberry, steely and focused with a touch of white pepper on the long finish. This is one of the best reds from Lucien Le Moine in 2014, not a flamboyant Bonnes-Mares, but correct and blue-blooded.