Bertheau/François Bonnes Mares Grand Cru 2021

91-94 points Allen Meadows (Burghound): "(from a .344 ha parcel located in 100% terres rouges). A more deeply pitched nose features notes of dark berries, plum and newly turned earth where the latter is reflected by the bigger-bodied and more powerful medium weight flavors that possess good richness as well as a seductive mid-palate, all wrapped in a balanced, complex and only mildly austere finale. In contrast to the Amoureuses, which could be approached young, this will need patience. Drink: 2031+. (Jan 2023)"

Bertheau's two plots of Bonnes Mares are about the same size as their holdings in Amoureuses, or about a third of a hectare, and run the length of the slope smack in the middle, what Gilman calls a "classic blend" of both Terres Rouges and Terres Blanches soil types; and he declares that the Bonnes Mares is "to my palate, clearly the finest wine that François Bertheau produces." Steen Öhman, a Swedish authority on Burgundy, recently deconstructed Bertheau's Bonnes Mares: "I would say that the Bertheau Bonnes Mares has a fine Chambolle character...effortless and never or at least very rarely dense...[It] is a quite big wine adding both depth and intensity to the excellent floral Les Amoureuses – clearly going to Grand Cru territory. It does take some years more to unfold fully – and it is a more serious wine than the other Bertheau wines. Given time it will, however, show its charming and sensual side, and in essence it is a hedonistic treat – rather than a big and powerful Bonnes Mares."