Lunch with 2010 Domaine Bernard-Bonin wines

A nice group of us gathered for a lunch built around the a quartet of 2010 whites from Domaine Bernard Bonin. We were quite impressed by the 2008s turned out by this young Domaine when we visited them in the Spring of 2011, and I was looking forward to trying a line-up from 2010 - a vintage that is fast turning out to be a great white wine year. True to form, the wines were very nice indeed. While not in an entirely different league from the 2008s, I thought they were perhaps one notch up and very promising indeed.

• 2010 Domaine Bernard-Bonin Meursault Les Tillets 89 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault

  This was a pretty decent village Meursault. It quite intrigued me, but I must admit that some on the table enjoyed it more than I did. It started with an expressive nose of ripe stone fruit with some Meursault cream, bits of earth and a sprinkling of bit of spice, all bedded down with a whoosh of chalky, talcum powder scents. I thought the palate was very ripe as well, with a lot of sweet peach and apricot flavours on the attack. However, this was speared through by a bright, lemony citrus freshness and blessed by a nice lick of rocky mineral right at the very finish - very 2010 in its mix of big fruit and high acidity that kept the wine in nice balance. Some nutty, buttery notes emerged at the finish with time. This was slightly in your face with its sweet ripe fruit and chalky powder aromas, almost a bit overwhelming. But it is early days yet, and a village with such decent depth and balance should improve quite a bit in over the next few years. For the moment, not bad.

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• 2010 Domaine Bernard-Bonin Meursault 1er Cru Les Charmes-Dessus 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

  I liked this one. A clear step up from the lieu-dit Meusrault Tillets, it had a classic Meursault nose, with sweet lemons and apples, shading almost into peach aromas, more earthy, chalky, talcum power notes, and a slightly buttery backdrop. The palate was everything you would expect a Charmes to be, with a nice plump roundness and fleshy apple and peach flavours galore, but it was also really structured with a solid citrusy spine on the midpalate and a lovely, slightly spicy minerality hovering in the background. A long, well-focused finished rounded it off very nicely. I really liked this.

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• 2010 Domaine Bernard-Bonin Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

  Excellent. This wine showed the clearest expression of terroir of the three Meursaults on show – it was the archetypal Genevrières that one would expect to pick out in a blind tasting, with a really pretty nose of sweet apples and richer stone fruit aromas wed to creamy, buttery accents and a nice waft of perfumy flowers. With a bit of time and air, a good bit of flinty, almost seashelly mineral scents drifted out as well. Nice stuff. The palate was really attractive too. I thought this was the most balanced and complete of the wines, with a sappy, fleshy white-fruited attack and a mouthfilling midpalate with floral perfume and sweeter stone fruit notes leading into a long, charming finish. There was lots of depth and breadth to the wine, and a good amount of nascent complexity as well. This was very good indeed. It has the chops to last quite a bit of time in the bottle, but it should develop into quite an early drinking beauty.

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• 2010 Domaine Bernard-Bonin Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Excellent stuff – this was the other white that I enjoyed tremendously. Just as the Genevrieres was classic Meursault, this was classic Puligny, with a gentler, more feminine nose, carrying pretty scents of white flowers, sweet red apples and a touch of chalky mineral. With time, a nice meaty, earthy savouriness drifted out from amongst the appley aromas as well. The palate was a bit simpler, showing a lovely, snappy expression of fresh apples and lemons. However, there was a really nice ring of purity to this, with a lovely balance and focus that lifted the wine to a different league from most of the Meursaults from the same house. It just had a really beautiful sense of transperancy and lightness in spite of showing quite a bit of depth and presence. Long, elegant finish too, gliding away with a lovely line of mineral. A sleek, classy Puligny. Very good indeed. 92-93-94

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• 2010 Albert Ponnelle Beaune 1er Cru Clos du Roi 89 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru

  While clearly a pretty well-made wine, I found this a bit difficult to drink in its youth. The nose was very full-on, almost with shades of the new world in its sweet red-fruit aromas of raspberries and cherries twisted with some brambly herb and spice. The palate was rather austere though. There was that same sweet, almost candied cherry tone on the attack, but this petered out very quickly into bittersweet notes of herb and bramble. There was a nice amount of clarity and really quite lovely balance and structure on the wine, but it was still very tight and not altogether that enjoyable. This needs time. At the moment, decent enough, but not altogether that pleasurable.

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