Comte Georges de Vogue, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru 2008

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Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni

The 2008 Bonnes Mares is totally classy and elegant. It shows gorgeous inner liqueur-like sweetness, expressive aromatics and a rich, textured finish that is a marvel to behold. The sheer depth, density and incisiveness of the fruit is fabulous. Expressive floral notes round out the finish. This is very much an understated Bonnes Mares from de Vogue. Anticipated maturity: 2023-2048. A brilliant career as a wine writer awaits long-time oenologist Francois Millet should he ever tire of making wine. Millet’s visual descriptions of vintages and wines are among the most colorful I have ever encountered. The truth is that these wines need no words at all; the quality of what is in the glass speaks for itself far more eloquently than words ever could. De Vogue’s 2009s are remarkable for their textural richness, depth and pure breed. In 2009 Millet started picking on September 9 in order to keep as much as freshness as possible. The fruit was 100% destemmed. New oak ranged from 15% for the Chambolle villages to 35-40% for the Bonnes Mares and Musigny Vieilles Vignes. The malos were on the slow side and for the most part did not begin until April 2010. Unfortunately I was not able to taste the 2009 Chambolle-Musigny and Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru and as they were bottled just prior to my visit. I did have a chance to taste most of the 2008s. In many ways the 2008s offer better balance than the 2009s because the vintage characteristics play off the house style of textural richness, resulting in marvelous, totally complete wines. In 2008 the harvest began on September 27, quite a bit later than in 2009. A cool growing season was saved by perfect conditions that began on September 13 and continued through to the end of the harvest. A Becky Wasserman Selection, Le Serbet, various American importers, including: Atlanta Wholesale Wines, Atlanta, GA; tel. (404) 696-9440; C’Est Vin, District of Columbia; tel. (703) 243-3559

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Reviewed by: David Schildknecht

Scents and flavors of grenadine, blueberry syrup, distilled herbal concentrates, as well as rose and peony floral notes surprisingly akin to those found in its siblings from Musigny mark the de Vogue 2008 Bonnes Mares. Saline, savory meat stock elements – which Millet considers “not really a true minerality like that of the Amoureuses” – suffuse a palate of impressive density yet textural caress, sweetness of fruit yet also sheer refreshment. Hints of resin and pepper add to the complexity of the finish. Rather than the transparency or interactive vibrancy of the Amoureuses and Musigny, we have here a more enveloping and serenely sustained personality. Francois Millet – always keen to pinpoint the expression of fruit he finds in each vintage – characterizes that of 2008 as “syrup-like,” and of 2007 as “candied.” I am skeptical that these metaphors can be generalized, but under no circumstances should “syrup-like” be taken as an attempt to deny the brightness or transparency displayed by so many of the best 2008s, including these. “To have been picked late” – in this instance, starting September 27 – “to have been picked cold, and to have fermented very slowly to created the largest amount of glycerol to combine with the freshness of the vintage,” opines Millet, constitutes a significant part of the 2008s’ secret, seduction, even mystery. “Late malo” – here completed in August – he adds, “was also good, so that the vintage could have a true childhood, and slowly, surely build itself. If we had had a southern wind when the weather changed, maybe we would have lost that identity of 2008. But by there being a northern wind, the evolution was continued” i.e. in a constant, cool trajectory. Not to short-change it, the 2007 vintage collection here is one of those few capable of standing direct comparison to its immediate successor – or indeed to nearly any other vintage from this address. Imported by Dreyfus Ashby, New York, NY; tel. (212) 818-0770; also a Peter Vezan Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011 33 1 42 55 42 93