The 2017 Bonnes Mares Grand Cru is also showing brilliantly from bottle, unwinding in the glass with aromas of cassis, wild berries and plums mingled with notions of peonies, grilled squab, spices and musk. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, velvety and layered, with good concentration and ripe acids, framed by an ample endowment of fine, powdery tannin that renders this more structured than the corresponding Amoureuses but not in any sense more austere. While this is quite charming and expressive for young Bonnes Mares, at least a decade's patience will be warranted.

The 2017 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru has an attractive, understated but precise nose. It is certainly not powerful, though it is very focused, offering subtle crushed stone and blackberry aromas. The palate is well balanced with a fresh orange-sorbet-tinged opening, toasty black fruit and a brush of black olive toward the refreshing, persistent finish. Mugnier's Bonnes-Mares is regularly surpassed by his Les Amoureuses, and this year is no different, but it is still a fine contribution to the vintage.

In the middle of the vineyard. Terres rouges and terres blanches. Small parcel so assembled from the start. Barrel sample. Seductive aroma but in a much richer style than the Clos de la Maréchale. Smells deep and seductive. A perfume I would love to be enveloped in. Sour red cherry and a touch of orange as well as floral. Complex and expressive. Beauty of fruit purity on the palate, like biting into a perfect red cherry, crunchy but sweet and tangy. The tannins are spicy and refined. A complete wine with succulence, fine-boned structure and intensity though not apparently dense. (JH)