Domaine Robert Groffier, Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru, Burgundy, France, 2018

Vault Wine: This wine is stored in our vault.

Overview of the Wine
It must be impossible to praise Groffier’s wines in a way that hasn’t been done before. In every recent vintage, this domaine has produced complex, delicious, lushly textured wines that are immediately appealing, but also have the balance to improve for many years. So it was no surprise that in the 6th Edition of Parker’s Wine Buyer’s Guide, Groffier was ranked as one of the top four Burgundy producers of the late 1990s. While Robert and his son Serge let their grapes ripen longer than most producers, their methods are traditional. They severely limit yields and then meticulously sort the grapes after harvest. There is no strict formula for new oak or the amount of time each wine spends in barrel.

They check the wines regularly during every stage of development and let their palates guide them. Domaine Groffier also owns some fantastic vineyards and they really maximize the quality by using the Cordon Royat method of training the vines. This increasingly rare technique reduces yields and produces very concentrated grapes. The two Grand Crus are always some of the top representations of their respective vineyards. Groffier also owns the largest single parcel of the unofficial Grand Cru Chambolle “Les Amoureuses.” Even the Bourgogne comes from superior vineyards – one parcel is next to the Grand Cru Clos Vougeot and the other is adjacent to the vineyards of Morey-St-Denis.

Grape / Blend
Pinot Noir

Origin
Burgundy, France

Tasting Notes
A classically backward and inexpressive young Bonnes Mares nose of blueberry and violets that display an interesting note of bitter cherry that can also be found on the round, rich, muscular and taut full-bodied flavors that are quite firmly structured and wrapped in a linear, intense and long finish. Like the Amoureuses, the flavors and finish are beautifully focused and while quite focused, there is god mid-palate fat to buffer the not inconsiderable tannic spine.

98 Points - Decanter
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. Drinking Window 2026 - 2035. (TA)

95 Points - Vinous
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. (NM)

94 Points - Wine Spectator
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. (BS)

Product size: 750ml