1993 Georges Lignier et Fils Bonnes Mares

Community Tasting Notes (4) Avg Score: 91 points

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  12/17/2021 - NYC_Maenad Likes this wine:

  The 1993 Georges Lignier et Fils Bonnes Mares served last night with duck breasts and cabbage with duck fat and apple cider vinegar underwent a startling transformation.
  
  Though not considered in the same league as Hubert Lignier, I’ve found some excellent older examples from Georges Lignier from the ‘70s and ‘80s, with the best being a few rocking bottles of '78 Clos de la Roche. I wasn’t sure where the cutoff would be vintage-wise, though, so opened this one with only modest expectations. This was from a case I split with a friend at auction in 2011, and I discovered when I pulled it a few days ago to stand up that one of mine had slight signs of old seepage, though still a high fill. The others were perfect. I always open the worst bottle first, hoping that will leave me nowhere to go but up!
  
  Based on experience with both 1993 and Bonnes Mares, I decided to give this a few hours of air. Decanted at 3 PM, at first I got a strong hit of VA and not a lot of fruit. The wine was clear, but the color was muddy brown - not maderized, just not all that pleasant. Sniffed and tasted again at 4, the VA had largely blown off and the hue was shifting more towards garnet. A subtle and attractive perfume was also beginning to emerge. Served in Grassl Cru glasses around 5:30, the VA was completely gone, and it was showing some forest floor, baking spice, and black cherry fruit. Dark and a bit brooding. The feel in the mouth was a bit lean and the overall impression complex, but without much power at that point. We continued to sip this over the next 2 hours and it continued to transform for the better – the fruit came to the fore, the mid-palate took on weight, the color continued to shift towards more saturated blood red and the nose even woke up came creeping towards something typical for the vineyard. While never a pretty wine, it was what I like to call “real Burgundy,” which is high praise from me. We ended up really enjoying it, with the last ½ glass the best. If this is the worst from my case, I’m doing pretty well! I’ll wait a few years on the next one, though - that double whammy of ’93 and Bonnes Mares really does demand time.

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  1/8/2021 - astroman Likes this wine: 91 Points

  PNP. Hawthorn and fresh earth notes. Lacks complexity on palate with simple finish. Rather good drinking.

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  12/23/2019 - Sleepy Dave wrote:

  BM Dinner (Summer Pavilion): Pale ruby. Sous bois, mint, leather, mellow dried fruits, mineral. Very good acidity and juiciness, I like the palate more so than the nose, this even has light inner perfume of dried flowers. Still a bit of tannin presence for a tannic end and edgy mouthfeel. The power is there, lightly coated the palate, very Long. Not a pretty wine but very good.

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  10/4/2016 - astroman Likes this wine:

  Open with a sweet ready fruits aromas and lively acid. The wine seem to shut down shortly after resulting in a rather bitter finish due to high acid profile. The bottle came alive towards the end showing the sweet red cherry notes with a hint of Chinese herbs. Definitely a keeper for a few more years!

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