2017 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru

The 2017 Bonnes Mares Grand Cru is also unusually saturated in hue this year, though Millet reports having done no more pigeage than usual. Offering up aromas of dark cherries, wild berries, cassis, dark chocolate, peony and caramelized orange rind, the wine is medium to full-bodied, ample and elegantly fine boned, with chalky structuring tannins, a pure core of fruit and a long, fragrant finish. Despite its disconcertingly deep hue this is one of the most supple, elegant renditions of the de Vogüé Bonnes Mares in the last decade.

François Millet began the harvest at Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé on September 2, having worked hard throughout the growing season to limit the generous potential yields provided by vines that suffered hard in the 2016 frosts. He succeeded in delaying malolactic fermentations until the following summer, and the resulting wines are unusually saturated in hue—to the extent that Millet was anxious to emphasize that he hadn't sought to extract more than usual. Readers will know the by now well-established rudiments of winemaking here: destemmed grapes, slow fermentations emphasizing pumping over—with pigeage reserved solely for the Bonnes Mares, delayed malolactic fermentations and élevage with one racking.