The Mystery and Allure of Henri Bonneau
2001 Bonneau Châteauneuf-du-Pape
CLASSIC VINTAGE - SPECIAL PRICING
Henri Bonneau is without a doubt a member of the old-school, Southern Rhône eccentrics...
...right up there with the late Jacques Reynaud of Rayas.
Parker has described Bonneau as "an uncompromising genius who could care less about making money."
In a market that tries to rush everything to release and loves the predictability of it all, Bonneau's timeline is based on his own intuition. Sorry to quote Parker so much but he's funny here, calling Bonneau's release schedule "leisurely" and "anti-commercial."
Which is fine with us, because this fact has allowed us the rare opportunity to offer a small parcel of Bonneau's 2001 Chateauneuf at the lowest price in the U.S. (It's also the only price in the U.S., these are rare bottles.)
The 2001 Chateauneufs are superb; along with 2007 this has to be considered one of the top vintages of the past decade. While the 2001s have all the saturating concentrations that you want from a Chateauneuf, they are a bit clearer, a bit more vigorous and lively on the palate. (And these are in stock for the serious summer BBQ, as are a few bottles of Bonneau's incredible 1998 Marie Beurrier.)
The Chateauneufs of Henri Bonneau are singular: They are savage, wild, lush... tasting notes tend to cycle through the normal list of dark roasted fruits and brushy wild herbs before heading for descriptors such as "roasted meat" and "beef blood scents." Incredibly vivid and detailed layers of fruit and spice are wrapped around a powerful core of iron and mineral which provide these wines with the structure to power through many decades.
It's worth noting that at 10 years old, Bonneau's Chateauneuf is still very young.
This shouldn't be too surprising: Bonneau is known for being fanatical about low yields, which together with the old vines he tends, makes for dense, dense wines. In the cellar, he practices long fermentation and aging in old Burgundy barrels.
Vintages of Grenache may still be fermenting six years after harvest in a hodgepodge of mixed, old barrels - frankly, it can appear to be pure disarray. But the truth is in the bottle, so we say, and Bonneau continues to turn out monuments.
He remains a time-tested benchmark producer, his wines a standard-bearer for the region. As such, they really should be experienced at least once.
Because we do not have that much wine to offer, this offer is only going out to those of you who have supported our Rhône program. We are the only ones in the U.S. to have any of this wine and our pricing has been shaved as lean as possible.
Give us your maximum order and we'll do our best to allocate accordingly. Please email us at offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463 to order.
Ian McFadden
Director, Fine & Rare
Crush Wine & Spirits
2001 Bonneau Châteauneuf-du-Pape
NET | No further discount