This very steep and stony, perfectly south-facing vineyard is Bonhomme’s highest, at 385 meters, and the last they pick. But it always retains a very Puligny-like tension and intensity.
This isn’t so much a richer wine than the Macon as a “finer” one. Indeed, we often find that we prefer it to the creamier but less intense and refined Vire-Clesse VV bottling, even though that’s a good bit more expensive.
Bonhomme is of course famous for not only producing wines that overdeliver, but ones that could easily be mistaken (and often are) for the much more prestigious and expensive appellations of the Cote de Beaune. And in that regard, this one leads the pack.
The last time Vinous reviewed this, it was actually the top-rated Bonhomme of the vintage. It’s from a very high-altitude and very special vineyard: clay and limestone with lots of small white stones.
There’s naturally a strong minerality here, but with great richness and concentration, too.
As Vinous said of the 2016:
A very rich, savory wine with an almost dusty texture and captivating pungent minerality. This youthfully austere wine will show spice and tasted bread notes six or seven years from now but it will also make delicious early drinking for its fresh fruit and adamant minerality.
The most complex and alluring of Bonhomme’s Viré-Clessés.