2015 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru

“We were massacred by the frost in Chambolle, Savigny and the south side of Marsannay,” said Bruno Clair in January, adding that his estate produced just 35% of a normal crop in 2016. But he added that he had only half a crop in 2015, and roughly the same production in 2013, 2012 and 2010 as well. The estate began harvesting on September 23 with grape sugars around 12% and chaptalized about half a degree. In comparison, potential alcohol levels were at least 13% in 2015 (13.5% for the Bonnes-Mares) and no chaptalization was done.

Cellarmaster Philippe Brun vinified most of the ‘16s with 20% to 25% whole clusters. The malos were protracted, typically lasting until August, and the wines had been racked and assembled in November. Clair described 2016 as “a classic vintage with less excesses of heat and drought than 2015, and a set of wines that should age well. Only the frost was a problem, and the wines have good balance and structure.” Brun added that he prefers the more linear 2016s and that he finds the 2015s "a bit too rich, even if they avoided any cooked taste. But we'll see in ten years."

The rain on August 6 brought the grapes back to a state of equilibrium following the drought conditions in July and saved the 2015 harvest, said Bruno Clair, who added that there were two subsequent “key” rains in August. “But we didn’t have a lot of grapes and they never got large,” he noted, and the estate ultimately produced the equivalent of half a normal crop.

Clair started harvesting with his Bonnes-Mares on September 5 and needed two weeks to pick. Grape sugars were mostly between 12.5% and 13%, with some even higher. The harvest was “perfectly clean” and the estate vinified with a higher percentage of whole clusters than normally. The malolactic fermentations finished relatively quickly, during the winter, and Clair expected to bottle the bulk of his 2015s in April of 2017. “The wines have complexity, charm and drive,” Clair summarized, “and they are not austere.”

Incidentally, Clair took back the remainder of his Bonnes-Mares in 2016 and now works 1.45 hectares of vines in this grand cru. All of his land is in Chambolle-Musigny, except for a small band of vines next to Clos de Tart.