The Mugnier 2005 Bonnes-Mares (of which there will be only around 125 cases) leads with aromas of ripe mulberry, blackberry, roasted meat, black tea, horehound and musky florality. This is one of those decidedly darkly-hued 2005s, and lacks the refreshment, the treble high-tones, or quite the focus of its siblings. Where this wine looks likely to shine is in its depth of mineral and earthy (stone and humus) manifestations, which already dominate the finish. Certainly this represents a dramatic departure in character from most other Bonnes-Mares of the vintage, which I am at a loss to explain.
Frederic Mugnier works from a just-expanded and superbly appointed cellar, and a tasting of his 2004s confirms that he is scoring hits even when Nature does not make it easy as she did the following year. Mugnier advocates unusually late but limited pigeage. “After all,” he opines, “we take great care not to crush the berries, so it doesn’t make sense to do an early pigeage and break them,” and late punch-down further extends the fermentation.
Various Importers. A Becky Wasserman Selection, Le Serbet; fax 011- 333-80-24-29-70.