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.

(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.

Frosted but very big in 2017. Barrel sample. Dark crimson. Light and fresh and with some bitter fruit flavour but without the purity of Clos de la Roche and Clos St-Denis. Big and sweet and polished. A hint of sherbet. Such a lot of undertow. Dramatic. (JR)