93

Stephen Tanzer

Vinous

Good medium red. Very ripe, soil-driven aromas of mocha, game, tobacco and cocoa powder. Strong red fruit and spice flavors emerge on the wonderfully dense, sweet palate, with an element of saline minerality providing another dimension. The wine's superb energy gives the highly concentrated fruit a bulletproof quality. Impressively dense and large-scaled for the year, finishing with substantial ripe tannins and excellent balance and length. Vincent's wines have been distinctly fresher and firmer since 2010 as he's now picking a bit earlier to avoid surmaturité.

91/93

Neal Martin

Robert Parker/Wine Advocate

The 2013 Bonnes Mares Grand Cru is raised in the same fashion as the Charmes-Chambertin: 80% whole cluster with 50% new oak. It has a very suave bouquet with black cherries and raspberry notes underlain by cold wet limestone scents – in a way, a “well-behaved” Bonnes-Mares. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins, a little aloof at the moment, and without the exuberance of ambition of the Charmes-Chambertin. It will benefit from 5 or 6 years aging in bottle. Pierre Vincent has taken a steady hand to Domaine de la Vougeraie in recent years and in my mind, has begun producing some quite splendid wine from a strong portfolio of holdings, wines that hold their own in blind tastings. "It was not easy for biodynamic farming because there was a lot of rain and low temperatures and then there was the terrible hailstorm in the Côte de Beaune. For whites it was difficult in Beaune and Charlemagne. But I am happy with the quality. The white are pure and clean, perhaps with a touch of reduction for hail-affected vineyards. But I am very happy with Bâtard-Montrachet. The harvest was not easy. We started on 26 September, just before the rain that arrived on 1 October. I was lucky because all the white were harvested before the rain. Others harvested after and for the white that made it difficult for them. The balance between fruit and acidity is perfect for the whites. For the reds it was easier because it was not affected by hailstorm and I am very happy with the Nuit Saint Georges, Vougeot and Chambolle villages. The pH after malo was around 3.55 - a perfect pH after malo. I do more and more whole clusters, a minimum 30% but for the Côte de Nuits it is between 50% and 100% whole cluster." This was a strong selection from Pierre, in particular I would draw your attention to a brilliant Charlemagne (renamed thus after being Corton-Charlemagne for many years) and a really quite awesome Charmes-Chambertin, one of the best that I tasted.