Robert Groffier Bonnes Mares Grand Cru 2018 (750ML)

98 DE / 94 JM / 94 WS / 93-95 VM

The Groffiers 1ha vineyard is at the Morey-St-Denis end of the Grand Cru, but still in Chambolle-Musigny on a mixture of mostly red with around 25% white soils. This is a wine that seduces rather than overpowers you, showing considerable elegance and grace in a year when Bonnes Mares produced some extremely well-upholstered wines. Fresh, balanced and very fine, it's an infusion rather than an extraction. Delicious.—Tim Atkin MW, Decanter

Bright magenta. The nose initially tends to the pruny without overstatement. Better on the palate with a sweet fruit fleshing out the second half of the wine. Good length, there is something here to build on. Drink from 2030. Tasted: September 2022.—Jasper Morris, Inside Burgundy

Aromas and flavors of sandalwood, woodsy underbrush, smoke, spicy cherry, currant and iron mark this supple red. It's linear and taut, with a dense matrix of tannins lining the long, spicy finish. Best from 2024 through 2045. 20 cases imported.—Bruce Sanderson, Wine Spectator

The 2018 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru is raised in 25% new oak and is almost entirely made from whole bunches. That stem addition gently guides the aromatics here, imparting a subtle pepperiness and earthiness that combines deftly with the vivid black fruit; perhaps there is less blue fruit here compared to other Bonnes-Mares this vintage. The palate is well balanced with supple tannins and a fine bead of acidity, reminiscent of de Vogüé in some ways. The slightly confit finish manages to retain impressive freshness. It is missing a little persistence, but otherwise this is a fine, quite delicious Bonnes-Mares. -- Neal Martin, Vinous Media