Intense and brooding this red offers complexity and power in an understated way. Blackberry mineral and tobacco flavors meld with the lively structure and fine-grained tannins. Picks up a violet theme on the long finish. Even better than a previous bottle. Best from 2009 through 2025. 92 cases imported. -BS

This is maturing into a really lovely wine as there is some evident evolution to the still pretty mix of violet, red and black fruits, earth, herb and game-suffused nose that gives way to textured, sappy, firm and intense flavors that are complex, long and utterly delicious. For my taste this still needs a few more years of cellar time but if given sufficient air in a decanter, the '04 BM could be enjoyed now. Note that this is not an especially big wine by the typical standards of the Roumier Bonnes Mares but it avoids the greenness so prevalent in the '04 vintage.

This was a perplexing wine when tasted at the primeur. It still has a rather stalky, herbaceous nose, overt scents of decayed autumn leaves, damp moss and mushroom. Strange but oddly attractive. The palate is medium-bodied, harmonious with some unresolved tannins in the middle. Not a complex Bonnes-Mares, but it all comes together on the leafy finish that displays good persistency. The longer it remains on the palate, the more it appeals.