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A vintage that just no question suits the soils of St-Julien. This is yet again showcasing the best of this property, with well placed juicy tannins and overall clear balance. Elegant and concentrated without straying into overpowering. Black fruits, stones, earth and spice. Will age for decades but it so drinkable already. Drinking Window 2020 - 2042.Decanter | 95 DECThe 2010 Branaire-Ducru has a lovely mélange of red and black fruit, hints of dried blood and autumn leaves suggesting that this is moving into its secondary phase. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, a fine bead of acidity, good body and a fresh marine-tinged finish that is an absolute joy. There is an abiding symmetry about this wine and it is in for the long-haul. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners 10-Year On Bordeaux horizontal.Vinous Media | 95 VMThis rich, full wine shows the chateau to be at the top of its form. It’s finely balanced, pushing both its fruit and acidity, with the tannins taking the supporting role. With its power leashed, this shows the stylish side of Saint-Julien, although it will certainly age for many years.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEA layered young red with lots of black olives and berries on the nose. Full body, with velvety and chewy tannins. It all comes together at the end with a lovely sweet fruit. Try after 2017.James Suckling | 94 JSThis wine is more backward than I would have normally expected, but nevertheless, it is very impressive. The 2010 Branaire-Ducru displays an inky bluish purple color and loads of mulberry, raspberry, black currant, graphite and floral notes in its intense aromatics. Medium to full-bodied , with sensational ripeness, purity, texture and length, the tannins are slightly more prominent than I remember from barrel, but they are sweet and ripe (as opposed to astringent and bitter). This beautiful wine needs 4-6 years of cellaring and should keep 25-30 years.Producer Patrick Maroteaux continues to fine-tune and turn out a succession of brilliant wines from this chateau, which sits across the famous Medoc Route du Vin from Beychevelle.Robert Parker | 94 RPVery polished and stylish, with a velvety feel to the layers of crushed plum, currant and blackberry, while bittersweet cocoa and black licorice glide in on the gorgeous, black tea-infused finish. Features a lovely allure rather than raw power, making this possibly the prettiest St.-Julien of the vintage. There’s plenty in the tank for cellaring as well. Best from 2014 through 2030. 15,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WS(Château Branaire-Ducru) The 2010 Branaire-Ducru has turned out very well indeed in this vintage, but this is an estate that has often done quite well in riper years like 1982 and 1989. The nose is deep, impressively pure and sappy, as it offers up scents of blackberries, black cherries, cigar smoke, soil, espresso and toasty new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, tight and ripely tannic, with a fine core of fruit, very good balance and a long, poised and reserved finish. This will need the better part of a decade to soften and start to drink well (in notable contrast to ripe vintages such as 1989, where Branaire-Ducru was irresistible out of the blocks), but this should be a very good example of 2010, once it has had sufficient time in the cellar. (Drink between 2020-2060).John Gilman | 91+ JG

Cocoa bean, bilberry, cassis, espresso, smoked earth, campfire, chunky tannins that put the emphasis on dark Petit Verdot spice. It’s a St Julien wine that has hints of Pauillac, where you feel the shoulders, the structure and the chewy tannins but there is a generosity and again this sparkle of cheer underpinning it all that Gloria does so well. Plenty of time ahead. 40% new oak, harvest September 29 to October 16. 46hl/h yield, from a year that saw both quality and quantity. Remi di Constanzo technical director.Jane Anson | 96 JASt-Julien lovers are going to be happy to see how Gloria has developed over the past decade. Cinnamon and black pepper, slivers of olive paste and crushed smoked rosemary. I love this wine; this was the time when it was starting to receive well deserved recognition after years of being in the background; and well done those who bought in En Primeur. Just coming in to its drinking window, but no rush. Drinking Window 2020 - 2042Decanter | 94 DECThe 2010 Gloria has a very attractive and quite intense bouquet with a surfeit of blackberry and wild strawberry scents, cedar and light seaweed coming through with aeration. The palate is very well balanced with supple but firm tannins framing the pure blackberry and bilberry fruit, laced with black pepper and clove. Very complex, very focused and very precise on the finish, this is an outstanding 2010 Saint-Julien. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners 10-Year On Bordeaux horizontal.Vinous Media | 94 VMThe 2010 Gloria is an ass-kicking, fabulous value once again from this estate, which would probably be classified if the 1855 hierarchy of the wines of the Medoc were ever done again. Abundant notes of cedar wood, fruitcake, flowers, creme de cassis and kirsch are all present in this full-bodied, opulent, dense, dark ruby/purple wine. It is slightly more restrained than the flamboyant 2009, but equal in quality. This is a juicy, well-proportioned, sensationally concentrated, super-ripe Gloria to drink over the next decades. Of course, it is a sleeper of the vintage, given the reasonable price it normally sells for.Robert Parker | 93 RPA little coarse, with chewy tannins, but velvety in texture. Full body, with plenty of fruit and bright acidity. Intense and interesting.James Suckling | 90-91 JSJuicy and direct, with a relatively friendly feel to the plum, blackberry and blueberry fruit, all coated with a ganache note that hangs through the finish. Surprisingly accessible, and not quite as grippy as when tasted from barrel. Drink now through 2023.Wine Spectator | 90 WSThe wine shows considerable new-wood influence at this stage. However, this wood emphasis brings out polished fruit that is deliciously smooth and blackberry-like in profile. This is likely to develop relatively quickly.Wine Enthusiast | 90 WE

Loads of tension and form. It can be cellared for decades, but it’s balanced and beautiful already. Lots of blueberry, licorice and blackberry character. Try in 2018.James Suckling | 96 JSThe 2010 Lagrange was picked from 29 September to 20 October. This is even better than the 2009 on the nose with beautifully defined brambly red fruit, crushed stone, violet and iris aromas, almost pixelated in detail. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannins, precise and focused with a silky mouthfeel. This fans out beautifully, certainly one of the more approachable 2010s but a wine full of class and immense breeding. Outstanding - a benchmark for the estate. Tasted at the Lagrange vertical at the estate.Vinous Media | 95 VMThis again is a brilliant St-Julien - full of joy and finesse and elegance. Black fruits and smoke combine with a slate minerality - I love it.This is also one that offers good value for money and will be a perfect match for food. Can drink now, or wait, and will age. Drinking Window 2020 - 2042Decanter | 94 DECWith vineyards in the west of Saint-Julien, Lagrange produces wines that are polished and elegant. In 2010, that style has been suffused with tannins while also delivering a black currant flavor. The wine is rich and ripe, with just the right amount of tannic structure for the fruit.Wine Enthusiast | 93 WEThis property, on the western plateau of St-Julien, includes 292 acres of vines on soils that vary from coarse to fine gravels, combined with sand or clay. Suntory purchased the property in 1983 and hired Marcel Ducasse, who restored it to prominence during his 24 years at the helm. Now run by Matthieu Bordes and Keiichi Shiina, Lagrange produces sleek wines. This is not a fat St-Julien, though their 2010 is succulent, opening over the course of several days to racy, dark plum fruit and a narrow course of tannins. Still youthful, this is approachable and lovely after long hours in a decanter, and it will reward patient cellaring.Wine & Spirits | 93 W&SNotes of singed alder, graphite and charcoal wrap around the core of intense blackberry paste, warm plum sauce and currant preserves. Turns sleek and racy on the well-knit finish despite the notable grip. Best from 2015 through 2030.Wine Spectator | 92 WS(Château Lagrange) I did not have time to drop by Château Lagrange to taste the 2010 sur place, so I do not have a note this year on their fine second wine, Les Fiefs de Lagrange, but the grand vin was showing very well at the UGC event. The bouquet is deep, pure, refined and seems decidedly less ripe than several others, as it offers up a black fruity mélange of cassis, dark berries, gentle herb tones, tobacco leaf, espresso, gravel and a deft base of new wood. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and impressively seamless, with a ripe personality, lovely mid-palate depth, well-balanced tannins and very fine length and grip on the reserved and classy finish. A really lovely example of the vintage. (Drink between 2022-2075)John Gilman | 92+ JGDeep garnet in color, the 2010 Lagrange gives up notes of baked blackcurrants, stewed plums and fried herbs with nuances of crushed rocks and balsamic plus a touch of fungi. Full-bodied, the palate has a firm line of grainy tannins and fantastic freshness helping to define the black fruit and earthy flavors, finishing a little lifted.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 90 RP

Firm tannins still at 10 years very much showing their quality and flexibility. This is brilliant, cassis, bilberry, touches of hawthorn and liquorice. An estate that struggled for consistency at times during the 10 years before this, but it had started to settle into far more regular success at this point, and here it is at the top of its game. Drinking Window 2020 - 2042.Decanter | 95 DECBeautiful aromas of blackberries, currants and flowers. Very aromatic. Full body, with ultra-fine tannins and gorgeous fruit. It’s polished and very refined. One of the best Beychevelles in years. Try in 2018.James Suckling | 95 JSShowing better from bottle than it did from barrel, where it was also impressive, but not quite at this level, the 2010 Beychevelle displays sweet black currant, black cherry, foresty notes, medium to full-bodied texture with impressive purity and moderately high tannins (although they’ve softened considerably during the wine’s upbringing in barrel). Layered and rich for a Beychevelle, this wine should easily withstand three decades of cellaring. I would give it another 3-4 years of bottle age, but this is a fabulous effort from the first chateau one sees upon entering the appellation of St.-Julien.Robert Parker | 94 RPThe 2010 Beychevelle has a dense bouquet with blackberry and wild hedgerow aromas. The oak is neatly integrated and with subtle iodine scents developing with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grain tannins, a superb line of acidity, fresh and vibrant with a distinctive graphite note towards the Pauillac-like finish. I love the linearity and precision of this Saint-Julien, real class here. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners 10-Year On Bordeaux horizontal.Vinous Media | 94 VMBeychevelle’s style privileges elegance over weight, and such is the case with the 2010. It’s a pure-fruited, ripe and lightly tannic wine, emphasizing a blackberry note. This will evolve relatively quickly, reaching a peak in approximately eight years.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WEFeatures a gutsy feel, displaying dark, roasted cedar and tobacco notes framing a core of steeped fig, blackberry paste and plum skin that rumbles through the tarry finish. Shows strong grip on the back end, with the briary edge extending nicely. Best from 2016 through 2035.Wine Spectator | 93 WS(Château Beychevelle) The 2010 Beychevelle has turned out quite well, but this is one of the headier examples of the vintage on the Left Bank, as it tips the scales at 14.25 percent alcohol. Nevertheless, the wine shows quite well, as it offers up a ripe, but not overripe, aromatic mélange of sappy black cherries, cassis, cigar smoke, lovely soil tones, fresh herbs and a stylish base of new wood. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, powerful and sappy at the core, with ripe, well-integrated tannins, tangy acids and very good length and grip on the impressively focused finish. It is no small feat to maintain such fine balance at this octane level, but the team at Beychevelle has done an admirable job in 2010. I should note that I tasted this sample at the estate, as the samples at the UGC event were not on form. (Drink between 2025-2075).John Gilman | 92 JGNo written review provided. | 92 W&S