Terroir Insight: Domaine Dujac Bonnes Mares (update)

One of the top wines of Domaine Dujac is the Bonnes Mares .. although I do have many favourite cuvées from this fine estate.

While Dujac makes both a Chambertin and a Romanée Saint-Vivant, these are very rare indeed and almost impossible to get hold of, so the Bonnes Mares could perhaps be considered as the de facto head honcho of the normal Dujac lineup.

I do adore both the Clos de la Roche and the Clos St. Denis from Dujac – but to be honest the Bonnes Mares often is the bigger wine – at least in recent vintages – more complete, bigger but also taking more time to unfold.

Jeremy Seysses – November 2017

My first experience with the Dujac Bonnes Mares was in the 1997 vintage – certainly a big wine in a what one would call a lesser vintage, a wine that certainly underlined the potential of the Dujac Bonne Mares.

All the more reason to take a closer look at the Dujac plots of Bonnes Mares.

Bonnes Mares – the darker side of Chambolle Musigny

Bonnes Mares is sort of the “dark side” of Chambolle-Musigny, a vineyard that represents a hybrid between Chambolle and Morey – a vineyard that sometimes is somewhat overlooked when compared with the mighty Musigny.

Bonnes Mares is 15.05 ha – hence almost 40% larger than Musigny – and is located in both Chambolle Musigny and Morey-Saint-Denis. The main part is in Chambolle-Musigny – north of the village and Les Fuées – and only 1.52 ha is located in the Morey appellation – just south of Clos de Tart.

Bonnes Mares begins at the southern end of Clos de Tart – actually there is a part of Bonnes Mares located within the enclosed walls of Clos de Tart – and this part is now a part of Clos de Tart, although it’s named Bonnes Mares in the official cadastre maps.

Bonnes Mares continues from Clos des Tart to Chambolle Musigny Les Fuées and the village part of Chambolle Musigny Les Cras, with the top of the slope not being a part of Bonnes Mares, but either village or the 1er cru part of Chambolle-Musigny Les Véroilles (the 1er cru is a monopole owned by Domaine Ghislaine Barthod).