Bonnes Mares Grand Cru
⏳ Drinking Window
Typically best enjoyed 10–25 years from the vintage release, as these Grand Crus require significant cellar aging to fully unfurl and develop complex tertiary characters.
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Roasted duck, beef bourguignon, wild mushroom risotto
✨ Technical Specifications
Domaine Bruno Clair's Grand Cru red portfolio represents the absolute pinnacle of the Côte de Nuits, featuring legendary parcels in Chambertin-Clos de Bèze and Bonnes-Mares. The history of these vineyards is deeply intertwined with the Clair family legacy, stemming from the historic split of the famed Clair-Daü estate. In Clos de Bèze, one of Burgundy's oldest documented vineyards dating back to the 7th-century monks of the Abbey of Bèze, the domaine tends to old vines planted in the 1910s and 1940s. In Bonnes-Mares, their plots span both the clay-rich 'terres rouges' and the limestone-dominant 'terres blanches', yielding a wine of immense structural complexity. Bruno Clair and winemaker Philippe Brun employ traditional, low-intervention methods, utilizing partial whole-cluster fermentation and aging in fine French oak. The resulting Grand Cru reds are celebrated for their profound depth, muscular structure, and ethereal aromatic complexity, showcasing the majestic power of Pinot Noir from these historic terroirs.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 1979 by Bruno Clair—grandson of Joseph Clair, pioneer of the historic Domaine Clair-Daü—this venerable Côte de Nuits estate was revitalized following the 1985 dissolution of the ancestral property. Bruno assembled choice plots across premier terroirs, expanding to roughly 25 hectares across seven villages. With holdings stretching from Marsannay and Gevrey-Chambertin down through Morey-Saint-Denis, Chambolle-Musigny, and Savigny-lès-Beaune, the domaine works predominantly over limestone-clay soils with varying gravel and marl strata. Viticulture follows strict organic and lutte raisonnée disciplines, focusing on manual tillage, low yields, and massal selections. In the cellar, vinification balances indigenous yeast fermentation, site-dependent partial whole-cluster inclusion, and restrained new oak maturation. Benchmark bottlings include the crystalline Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru, Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru, Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru Clos Saint-Jacques, and single-vineyard Marsannay expressions like Les Longeroies, all celebrated for their mineral tension, aromatic purity, and long-lived structural finesse.
🍇 Grapes
Pinot Noir