November 8, 2022 - 2002 Burgundy, round 2 (Noize): A slight chemically funk on opening, that blew off fairly quickly. An unusual wine with a lot going on (in the order I noted them down): soft cassis, burned caramel, campfire, cranberry, fresh red fruit, bitter orange and mezcal...! Enjoyable, but not a stand-out, and felt pretty young.
May 2, 2021 - Drinking a point with plenty of fruit left here, some sous bois, good acidity, complete wine a bit on the masculine side for a Bonnes Mares, perhaps, and a great match with the morels.
#SøllerødKro
April 16, 2019 - 2002 Burgundy Dinner (Chef Kang, MacKenzie Road, Singapore): This has been consistently good over three bottles, tasted over the course of 7 years or so. From a magnum this time, this had a lovely nose of blueberries and violets, earth and spice, with a just a touch of burnt rubber and a hint of meatiness to it. Lovely stuff, and quite characteristically Bonnes Mares to my mind. The palate was nice and approachable too. Perhaps a touch sterner, less charming than the nose, but very drinkable nonetheless. Here, plump flavours of blueberries and black cherries played against a backdrop of spice, mineral and earth. There was a nice sense of breezy freshness lent to it by some juicy acidity, but there was also an underlying structure of slightly drying, woody tannins that came up more as the wine moved into its long spicy finish. Altogether a yummy, if not quite complete Bonnes Mares. This did falter a bit against tough competition its flight-mates (superb 2002 Bonnes Mares from Mugnier and Vogue), but that would be nitpicking. This was very nice on the night. I did think that it should be drank sooner rather than later though, lest the fruit fades behind its structure.
December 8, 2018 - Not a bad Saturday afternoon: Kind of muddled dark cherry with a touch of brown sugar. Nice, but not at the level I'd expect from this producer, vintage, and cru.
August 18, 2018 - Upgrading my score from a few years ago. This has aged nicely. Felt this was deeper with more dark, black fruits. Really well balanced wine that was rich and texturally very interesting. Red and black fruit, earth, spices, cherries and blackberries. Really nice BM.
October 8, 2016 - Mature and delicious. Became
broader, richer, deeper throughout evening.
September 1, 2016 - This was actually a really nice bottle Chez Potel, perhaps even better than a bottle I had about 4 years back. It had an excellent nose, full of sweet blueberries touched with smoky accents of earth, spice and meaty. Lovely. The palate had a touch of something slightly funky and furry to it, but there was a other a lovely sense of clarity to its pure, juicy blueberry notes. It was still youthful, with lots of Grand Cru depth to burn, but already starting to drink well. On the midpalate and beyond, more meaty and spicy tones pulled the wine into a nice long finish. A very full, complete wine - just what you would want from a Bonnes Mares.
November 9, 2015 - Very nice. popped and poured but drank over 2-3 hours. well integrated at this point. would say drink now as this bottle tasted like it had some age. Have one left and will be a tough call to see how long I let it go. Figured the 02s would be much longer to develop.
June 26, 2013 - Good but not great. Very approachable dark fruits, spice.
February 2, 2013 - Another Saturday at Knightsbridge - mostly blind (Northbrook, IL): Tasted double blind. Black fruit aromas with plenty of barnyard. Similar fruit on palate, modest spice, overall very forward. Slightly below expectations for a good producer's Bonnes Mares from a good vintage at this early stage.