Aromatically, the 2000 Bonnes Mares bursts with spices and blackberries. Notes of cedar are intermingled with spiced coffee cake, chocolate-covered cherries, and blackberries in its generous, delectable personality. This well-balanced and structured wine improved with air during our tasting. Projected maturity: now-2012. The 2000 vintage is yet another success story at Domaine du Comte Georges de Vogue. After having performed an evasivage (the removal of excess buds after flowering), the Vogue team still believed they had too much fruit on the vines and dropped half of the bunches prior to veraison as they did in 2001. In the end, they harvested a moderate 30 hectoliters per hectares in a vintage where their neighbors set records. According to Millet, the fact that the yields were kept under control also served to ensure a “very healthy” harvest.Importers: A David Schildknecht Selection, Vintner Select, Cincinnati, OH; tel. 513-229-3630; Vin Divino, Chicago, IL; tel. (773) 334-6700; Chambers & Chambers, Inc., San Francisco, CA; tel. (415) 642-5500; Dreyfus Ashby, New York, NY; tel. (212) 818-0770; Ideal Wines, Medford, MA; tel. 781-395-3300; and a Becky Wasserman Selection / Le Serbet; French Fax: 011-33-3-80-24-29-70, various American importers

Enormous fruit dominates this wine. Red fruits of every type, from raspberries to red currants mingle in a dense fruit salad. But underneath this mouthfilling fruit is a big, solid structure that promises great aging ability. Keep this wine for 10 years before opening, perhaps even keeping some more bottles for at least 20. ——R.V.(11/1/2002)—— 96