93
Josh Raynolds - Vinous Media
"Saturated ruby. A highly perfumed bouquet displays aromas of ripe dark berries, cherry compote and vanilla, complicated by exotic floral pastille and peppery spice notes. Powerful blackberry and cassis flavors show excellent depth and building sweetness, along with a hint of smokiness. The spice and floral qualities repeat emphatically on the finish, which hangs on with superb tenacity and building tannins.
The red wines here continue to show a more refined character than those of a decade ago, but the Bonnefond brothers are still producing some of the most extroverted Côte-Rôties one is likely to encounter. There's a better fruit/oak balance in evidence in recent vintages, and the wines show a slightly more friendly and less tannic character than in the past, but there's no lack of concentration either. Christophe, who leads the Côte-Rôtie growers' association, told me that based on the success of other vintages "when the fruit was round and the tannins harmonious," he expects the 2014s from the entire region "to move very quickly." He noted that basic, regional wines and early-bottled appellation wines from the vintage "disappeared almost as soon as they were offered."