It’s beyond dispute at this point that the Grand Cru “Bonnes Mares,” at the northern end of Chambolle-Musigny and spilling into neighboring Morey-St-Denis, is one of the five or six greatest Pinot Noir vineyards in the world.
And while much of Chambolle-Musigny is defined by Pinot Noirs of silken, perfumed grace, those of Bonnes Mares often possess a deeper structure and a darker bass note. When Pinot Noir gets as profound as this 2014 Bonnes Mares from the legendary Bruno Clair, red wine simply doesn’t get any better. If you are looking to add a wine to your cellar that will appreciate exponentially in both value and quality over many years to come, this is one to jump on.
Over our three-plus years in business, we’ve offered a broad range of wines from Bruno Clair, whose domaine extends over an impressive 24 hectares in the Côte d’Or. Bruno’s grandfather, Joseph, established the domaine Clair-Daü in Marsannay just after World War I, and Marsannay remains a key component of a Clair domaine which, since Bruno came aboard in the mid-1980s, has expanded to include vineyards in 9 appellations. He farms vineyards in Gevrey-Chambertin (from which most of his wines hail), Morey-Saint-Denis, Pernand-Vergelesses, Corton-Charlemagne, Aloxe-Corton, Chambolle-Musigny, Vosne-Romanée and Savigny-lès-Beaune. According to the British Master of Wine Clive Coates—perhaps the world’s leading authority on Burgundy—the piece of the Bonnes Mares Grand Cru in Morey-Saint-Denis reverted to Bruno’s family in 2016 after a long-term lease agreement ended, making Domaine Bruno Clair now the second-largest owner of Bonnes-Mares, with a little over two of the vineyard’s 15 total hectares.
Bruno himself is a viticulturist first and foremost, known for detailed, arduous work in his vineyards (he works organically, but hasn’t bothered to get certified). He farms his vines entirely without chemical fertilizers. He composts and plows the soils, maintains low yields and seemingly knows the health of each vine on his estate. The hand-harvested fruit is meticulously sorted then partially destemmed, depending on the requirements of the vintage as well as the individual site.
In the cellar, Bruno works closely with longtime enologist/right hand Phillippe Brun to craft wines traditionally with the ultimate respect for vintage and site. Fermentation takes place in open-top wooden vats and is achieved through only natural yeasts. Wine is ‘punched down’ regularly over a 14- to 21-day cuvaison (maceration on the skins during fermentation), then transferred to oak where is undergoes malolactic fermentation in the Spring. The wine is then racked and continues to age sur lie (on its spent yeasts) in 20%-50% new oak depending on the demands of the individual vintage for roughly 16-22 months. In a world of heavy-handed, modern-styled wines, Bruno Clair’s offerings capture the subtlety, finesse and sense of place that only great Burgundy can achieve. Nevertheless, his wines are not crafted to pop and pour, they are rare snapshots of Burgundy that are meant to be aged and pondered on the most special of occasions.
This is especially true of the 2014 Bonnes Mares, a wine of immense concentration and layered flavors that should age gracefully for 20+ years if kept well. This is a balanced vintage marked by classically structured reds built for the long haul. In the glass this displays a deep garnet hue with ruby highlights at the rim. The aromas are dense and heady, with perfumed notes of black cherry, blueberry, persimmon, wild flowers, dried orange rind, rose petals, wet rocks and delicate exotic oak spices which seem to evolve every few minutes. The palate is complex, with multi-layered flavors similar to the nose. It is important to note this wine requires patience if drinking in its youth; pull the cork 5-6 hours early and leave the wine in the cellar (or a cool dark spot) to slowly open up before serving at 60-65 degrees in large Burgundy stems. Then watch the show unfold. The true peak of this wine will not be seen for more than a decade, so do your best to keep your hands off it as long as possible, but I will admit this wine is simply stunning now! If you can’t hold off, pair it with something suitably dramatic, like the attached crown roast of pork from chef Tyler Florence. That’ll make for good times.
