A Wine Well-Mothered

What an interesting man Deano is.  Without any doubt he is extremely talented, and he is a person of very wide knowledge and depth on any number of topics.  A conversation with him can leave you considerably enlightened or totally perplexed.  However, there is no doubting his generosity.  Over dinner, he brought along a wine that was special to him, and one that he’d kept and mothered over.  It was one that he wanted to share with his mates.  SWMBO and I are lucky to be deemed mates.

The bottle in question was the 1997 Domaine Arlaud Bonnes Mares Grand Cru.  Sure, it wasn’t from one of the most revered producers, but they are authentic and creditable.  However, the vintage was problematical and the wines looked better when young.  But who were we to argue with a Burgundy Grand Cru, irrespective of such geeky detail?  On pouring, it was a lighter coloured wine with signs of garnet and brick.  Definably Burgundy with savoury and earthy red fruits, and what some call ‘blood and fur’.  The bouquet a little narrowed, but with good detail and interest.  Drinking it, the wine was somewhat leaner, sharper and more acidic than expected.  The tannin structure had begun to resolve, enabling it to slip down.  The development hadn’t not been as graceful as a richer and riper year.  But intriguingly it was very drinkable and really not disappointing.  Deano had taken care of this wine, as it deserved to be.  Doesn’t ‘Bonnes Mares’ mean ‘good mothers’?