1995 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru

Freddy Mugnier benefitted from late picking in 1996, and has made a set of nicely balanced wines that should give pleasure early and late. The wines are rich in material, and combine high sugars and high acids. Mugnier describes his '95s as more fragile wines, but with harmonious acidity. "They may be very good, but people will have to catch them at the right time," he says. "And considering that most people will just have a few bottles of a given wine, that may be difficult to do," he adds. 1995 was a tiny crop here, yielding just 30 barrels of wine, compared to 80 in '96. Mugnier has now replanted the majority of his Bonnes-Mares, which featured "a generally bad selection massale " in the late '50s and early '60s. The '95 was the first vintage that included the new younger vines. (A Becky Wasserman selection; importers include Martin-Scott Wines, Ltd., Lake Success, NY; Glazers Wholesale, Dallas, TX; Esquin Imports, San Francisco, CA)