2017 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru

Having been blessed with verticals of both Christophe Roumier’s Bonnes-Mares and Musigny in the previous 12 months, I have already enjoyed more than my fair share of Roumier’s wines. But as I stated in the introduction to my Bonnes-Mares article, I do not put Roumier or indeed any other grower on a pedestal by dint of reputation or clamor for their wines. I take them as they come and appraise them objectively, just as Roumier does himself.

“It was an easy growing season,” he remarked as we descended into his barrel cellar. “We had to undertake some green harvesting in Chambolle Les Cras and in Bonnes-Mares in order to control the vigour. Then we started the picking on September 8 and harvested over the following six days. The Premier Crus include between 50% and 60% whole bunches this year.” Details of new oak can be gleaned from individual tasting notes.

On the day of my visit, two or three of the barrel samples were reduced, much to Roumier’s surprise, since they had shone brightly just a couple of days before - the caprice of a wine’s élevage. Yet it is clear that Roumier has overseen some sublime 2017s, and not just the 400-odd bottles of Musigny. The star this year is not the Bonnes-Mares but the Chambolle-Musigny Les Amoureuses. Ignore their statuses: these two vie for supremacy each year and I suspect that the Premier Cru might just have the upper hand in 2017. I also adore the Chambolle-Musigny Les Cras, which is often endowed with more complexity and gravitas than Roumier’s Combottes, and the vintage puts a wedge between them in qualitative terms. As usual, you will find two labels under Christophe Roumier’s own name, the Charmes-Chambertin and Ruchottes-Chambertin, both outstanding, now joined by his métayage in Echézeaux shared with Arnaud Mortet. The maiden 2016 was whittled down to just a quarter-size barrel and consequently felt too oaky last year. The 2017 vintage bestows two-and-a-quarter barrels. It is much better, far more balanced and less oppressed by the cooperage – a welcome addition to the range.

Though not every 2017 from Christophe Roumier merits superlatives, as always, what I like is the fact that he translates the vagaries of the growing season. There is nothing pretentious or overly ambitious, nothing self-aggrandizing about Roumier’s wines. Even tasting from barrel, you think how much you’d like to abscond with that bottle and drink it. What else is wine for?