Bonnes Mares, Domaine Robert Groffier 2005

I was frankly shocked to find that the aromatic profile here was even more elegant and arguably finer than that of the Amoureuses with its bright red and blue pinot fruit, minerals and spice notes, particularly anise that complement to perfection the sleek, taut, brooding and focused flavors that explode on the hugely long and deep finish. This is an impressive wine that has that 'wow' factor. Drink: 2015+

The nose if very closed with forest floor, clayey mulberry aromas, becoming more plumy and raspberry scented with aeration. Good delineation. The palate is deep, lush and voluptuous with great concentration and noticeable new oak. But symmetrical and very focused on the finish, which is less flamboyant than I expected. Superb. Drinking 2014-2025. Tasted January 2007.

The Groffier 2005 Bonnes Mares smells of black raspberry and wild blueberry laced with sage and a hint of game, offers a rather Musigny-like combination of inner-mouth florality and refinement on the palate, and finishes with pure, sweet fruit, even silkier in texture and nearly as bright as the Hauts Doix, not to mention more intense and with a tactile finishing minerality, fineness of tannins and sheer length that (as well they should) go beyond the Premier Cru wines.