Wine Ratings

wines

The wine has an opaque blue/black color and abundant notes of forest floor, spring flowers, black raspberry and blueberry liqueur in the aromatics along with hints of espresso and white chocolate. The wine is dense, full, rich, unctuously textured and very full-bodied, with its extravagant glycerin, fruit and extract covering the wine’s somewhat tannic structure. This is a bigger, more restrained and structured wine than the outrageously flamboyant and prodigious 2009. Give it 5-8 years of cellaring and drink it over the following 30-40 years.This property has been on fire, qualitatively speaking, for well over a decade. Another compelling effort from the Cuvelier family, the 2010 Clos Fourtet is a blend of 87% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Cabernet Franc that came in at 14.5% alcohol. Yields were modest at 31 hectoliters per hectare. The harvest was late, starting at the very end of September and not finishing until the beginning of the third week of October.Robert Parker | 98 RPThe 2010 Clos Fourtet has a well defined and focused bouquet with tarry black fruit, black pepper and tobacco notes, almost equidistant between Left and Right Bank in style. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins, supple and underpinned by a fine bead of acidity. Very harmonious towards the finish with well-integrated oak, this is a superb Saint-Émilion. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners 10-Year On Bordeaux horizontal.Vinous Media | 95 VMVery winey, with a saturated, sappy feel as kirsch, blackberry preserves and blueberry coulis notes tumble around, while the frame of charcoal, smoldering tobacco and licorice root keeps them penned together. The tannin structure is significant, but very refined, and that should carry this through extended cellaring while the aromatics and midpalate develop harmony. Best from 2016 through 2030. 4,167 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WSA beautiful wine, with everything in the bottle. Blackberries, minerals and blueberries. Full and silky. Long, long finish.James Suckling | 93-94 JSThis chunky, fruity wine is full bodied and rich. It shows all the structure and weight of the vintage allied to ripe black fruits and a dense texture edged with minerality. Still very firm and youthful, it will need many years to mature.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WE

Dense ruby/purple, it tips the scales at 15% natural alcohol and was bottled unfined and unfiltered. Full-bodied in texture, it offers up loads of blueberry, blackberry and raspberry fruit intermixed with some cedar, vanilla and a touch of spring flowers. Impressively built, with good acidity and light tannin, this is a superb example of wine that reaches its prime in 3 or 4 years and lasts two decades. It’s right up there with their brilliant 2005.From an estate owned by Dominique and Florence Decoster, this wine has been a real treasure to follow over the last decade. Another over-achieving, brilliant effort from the Decosters, the 2010 from their 45-acre vineyard is a blend of 70% Merlot and the rest equal parts Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon.Robert Parker | 95 RPThis for me has a better balance than the 2009, same alcohol but here it is effortlessly eaten up by the rich dark fruits, with cassis, blueberry, bilberry and blackberry all apparent, with texture and juice. It’s gourmet, with a black chocolate, slightly bitter edge, even with traces of menthol as the Cabernets take the lead here. Small yield at 36hl/ha. Harvest October 18 right through to November 5, which sounds extreme but bear in mind this is the cooler section of the plateau back towards the border with Castillon and these soils take longer to fully ripen their grapes. Drinking Window 2019 - 2044.Decanter | 94 DECBlack ruby. Superripe, sexy aromas of blackberry pastille and blueberry. Creamy-sweet-verging-on-confectionery, but with harmonious acidity giving shape and energy to the wine's superconcentrated dark fruit and floral flavors. Best today on the broad, energetic finish, which features substantial ripe, fine-grained tannins and slowly mounting floral persistence. A knockout.Vinous Media | 94 VMWow. This shows an impressive richness on the nose of cappuccino, ripe berries and dried flowers. Full body with velvety tannins and a fine finish. Rich and delicious. Harmonious and luscious. So delicious now but better in 2017.James Suckling | 93 JSThis is rich and very plush, but really pure as well, with gorgeous macerated cherry, cassis and blackberry preserves flavors gliding along, carried by remarkably polished tannins. Flecks of bergamot, blood orange and apple wood fill in on the finish, with a fine minerality buried as well. This should be lovely after some cellaring. Best from 2015 through 2030. 6,083 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WS

(Domaine Arnoux-Lachaux Romanée St. Vivant Grand Cru Red) A notably floral character adds breadth to the highly spiced and exceptionally fresh nose of cool red currant and plum. The rich, refined and admirably pure middle weight flavors are supported and shaped by ultra-fine tannins that coat the mouth on the incredibly long finish. Despite the underlying tension, this is essentially a wine of finesse and harmony that should also age for a very long time if desired. Brilliant and remarkably complex. (Drink starting 2025)Burghound | 96 BHGood full red. Vibrant perfume of raspberry, spices and minerals. Boasts outstanding dark berry intensity, with powerful crushed-stone minerality and a saline quality giving great energy and tension to the middle palate. Finishes with remarkable rising length, utterly suave tannins and superb lift. Like the Suchots, this is already wonderfully aromatic but is built for a decade or two of improvement in bottle.Vinous Media | 95+ VM(Romanée-St.-Vivant- Domaine Arnoux-Lachaux) The 2010 Romanée-St.-Vivant from Domaine Arnoux-Lachaux, not surprisingly, ash the best depth of fruit to stand up to the wood tannins here, and this wine is not bad at all. The nose is a complex and classy blend of cherries, orange peel, coffee, Vosne spices, lovely soil tones and plenty of smoky, luxe-styled new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and complex, with a good core of fruit, fine focus and very good length and grip on the chewy and only modestly over-oaked finish. This will have no trouble eventually absorbing its wood tannin, as it is only showing a touch of backend dryness at this time, and it will be a pretty good bottle at its apogee. But, should one expect more from an expensive example of Romanée-St.-Vivant in a great year? This will certainly not offer up even a modicum of value. (Drink between 2016-2040)John Gilman | 91+ JG

The 2010 Palmer is one of the superstars of the vintage, a blend of 54% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Petit Verdot, which is just slightly different than what I indicated two years ago. The alcohol level hit 14.5%, and the wine comes across like a more stacked-and-packed version of their 2000. It is tannic and backward, but has a sensational black/purple color and a gorgeous nose of camphor, barbecue smoke, blackberry and cassis. Full-bodied, with oodles of glycerin but a relatively healthy pH, this wine has a precision and freshness that belie its lofty alcohol and extravagant concentration. This is a sensationally rich, full-throttle Palmer that could well end up being one of the all-time great wines made at this estate. It needs a good 7-10 years of cellaring and should keep for 50 or more years.There’s no question that Thomas Duroux and the staff at Palmer are producing wines of first-growth quality, and have been for nearly a decade.Robert Parker | 98+ RPOne of the great years of Bordeaux now at 10 years old and showing why this is such an unusual vintage in terms of the depth of structure and muscular concentration that was achieved. In fact, I am upping the drinking window from the last time I tasted this, as there is such a pulse of life and grip that shows no signs of going anywhere. The initial layers are starting to be peeled back, but this retains primary black and blue fruits that are still full of flesh alongside baked earth, tons of liquorice and black chocolate with a grippy tannic structure, fresh acidities and a serious attitude. Brilliant stuff, that is clearly going to power on for decades. Harvest September 22 to October 20. Drinking Window 2022 - 2048.Decanter | 98 DECA purity of fruit here with plum and dark chocolate undertones. Spices and treacle tart as well. Full body, with ultra-fine tannins and a long, long finish. Very fine indeed. Fit, fruity and reserved. Superb. Try in 2020.James Suckling | 98 JSWhile outwardly this wine is generous and opulent with great juicy sweetness, the core is structured and powerful. The wine is concentrated and complex, with dark tannins and a brooding, dense texture. This is a wine with a long-lived future.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEThe 2010 Palmer has an outgoing, intense and multifaceted bouquet with black cherries, boysenberry, crushed violets and hints of cassis - your quintessential Margaux turned up to eleven. The palate is medium-bodied with very supple tannins and a fine bead of acidity. Headier than its Margaux peers, it builds in the mouth with a complex, marine-tinged finish with cracked black pepper lingering on the aftertaste. This is an outstanding Palmer but it needs more time in bottle. Tasted from an ex-château bottle at the BI Wines & Spirits 10-Year On tasting.Vinous Media | 96 VMThis is riveting, with terrific tarry grip coursing underneath layers of smoldering bay leaf, warm plum confiture, freshly brewed espresso, dark cassis and well-steeped black tea. The charcoal and tobacco backdrop is gorgeous and should move forward through the core of fruit over time. Be patient though, as the structure is ironclad. This will really be electric once mature. Best from 2017 through 2040. 8,500 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WS(Château Palmer) The 2010 Château Palmer is a quite powerful rendition of this fine estate, but without any signs of the ripeness here obscuring any of the potential purity that makes this great estate so beloved by claret fans the world over. My notes do not include the alcohol level on the grand vin this year (which was also absent from the technical sheet handed out by the estate), but the literature from Palmer this year does observe that “although the alcoholic degree is very high, like in 2009, the acidity and tannic concentration are greater (than 2009), making for wines with an extremely solid foundation.” Given a cépage in 2010 that is comprised of fifty-four percent merlot, forty percent cabernet sauvignon and six percent petit verdot, one has to assume that the alcohol level is in the range of 14.5 percent in this vintage. But the wine shows no ill effects from this level of ripeness, as it offers up a superb nose of black cherries, blackberries, coffee bean, tobacco smoke, gravel and a suave base of new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and quite powerful for Palmer, with a rock solid core of fruit, very good focus and balance, substantial, but well-integrated tannins and excellent length and grip on the tangy finish. Stylistically, this will probably never be my favorite vintage at Palmer, as I tend to prefer this wine when it is at its most elegant, but there is no denying that the 2010 is beautifully-made and does show extraordinary purity and focus for such a broad-shouldered wine. (Drink between 2025-2100)John Gilman | 95 JG

(Domaine Ponsot Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes Grand Cru Red) In stark contrast to the expressiveness of the Clos St. Denis, this is almost mute and even aggressive swirling liberates only the briefest glimpses of wild red berries and earth notes. There is superb size and weight to the imposing and overtly muscular flavors that also enjoy an incredible amount of dry extract that confers a supple and seductively textured mouth feel to the highly concentrated mid-palate. The presently buried tannins are intense and markedly firm though not hard on the explosively long finish that seems to go on and on. This should be something very special if given sufficient time to reach its apogee. (Drink starting 2032).Burghound | 95-97 BH

There is by contrast super richness and a lovely minerality to the vibrant and tension-filled medium-bodied flavors that enjoy very ripe tannins that add to the moderate sense of austerity on the impressive long finish. In contrast to the Griotte this is not likely to be nearly as accessible young.Burghound | 91-94 BH

The 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 VMA 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 DECThis 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 WEThis 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 WSA 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 JS(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

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

Araujo’s 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard is a picture perfect example of the year. Vibrant, precise and beautifully chiseled, the 2010 boasts serious depth and concentration. The aromas and flavors are incredibly vivid in this textured, dazzling Cabernet Sauvignon. Hints of dark blue and black fruit, mocha, espresso and grilled herbs flesh out on the huge finish. Today the 2010 is unusually open, but it is almost certain to shut down in bottle over the next 6-12 months. The 2010 is a super-classic Eisele Cabernet Sauvignon from Araujo. Anticipated maturity: 2018-2035.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RPAraujo’s 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard is a picture perfect example of the year. Vibrant, precise and beautifully chiseled, the 2010 boasts serious depth and concentration. The aromas and flavors are incredibly vivid in this textured, dazzling Cabernet Sauvignon. Hints of dark blue and black fruit, mocha, espresso and grilled herbs flesh out on the huge finish. Today the 2010 is unusually open, but it is almost certain to shut down in bottle over the next 6-12 months. The 2010 is a super-classic Eisele Cabernet Sauvignon from Araujo.Vinous Media | 98 VMA big, plush Napa cab, which still offers lots of dried fruit, such as berries and figs, as well as chocolate and vanilla. It’s full-bodied with a rich, layered, ripe-tannin structure and mouth feel. Flavorful finish. This is really starting to show complexity with black truffles and leaves to the ripe fruit. Drink now.James Suckling | 94 JSPure, rich and delicious, with a sumptuous core of melted black licorice, dark berry, nutmeg-scented spice, loamy earth and dried herb. Shows impressive focus, density and persistence. Tempting now, but should age well. Best from 2014 through 2028. 1,900 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WS

(Bonnes-Mares- Domaine Mugnier) The 2010 Bonnes-Mares from Domaine Mugnier is a magically elegant and intensely flavored wine of silken refinement. The stunning nose offers up a beautiful mélange of red and black cherries, red plums, a touch of blood orange, brilliantly complex minerality, woodsmoke, gamebirds, fresh herbs and a violet topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, suave and seamless, with a sappy core of fruit, very refined tannins, laser-like focus and great length and grip on the succulent finish. Tout en finesse and the finest young Bonnes-Mares I have ever had the pleasure to taste from this great estate. (Drink between 2022-2075)John Gilman | 95 JGA more deeply pitched nose features plenty of earth influence but there are also soft floral and herbal nuances to the array of very ripe red berry fruit liqueur aromas. There is impressive concentration and an overt muscularity to the big-bodied flavors that possess plenty of power on the dusty, explosive and seriously long finish where the supporting tannins are very well integrated. There is first-rate complexity and this should amply reward 12 to 15 years of cellar time.Burghound | 94 BHGood medium red. High-toned, liqueur-like aromas of blackberry, blueberry and smoky underbrush. Densely packed and broad, showing the sappiness and great energy of the vintage. Black raspberry fruit is complicated by iron and mocha notes. The dense finish features slowly rising persistence and surprisingly smooth tannins. This vineyard was originally planted in the 1950s but Mugnier replanted about half of the vines in 1987.Vinous Media | 94 VMThe 2010 Bonnes-Mares comes across as a bit reticent. An expressive bouquet laced with dark berries, crushed rocks and graphite leads to a pretty core of dark red fruit. The generous, fleshy finish is the best thing about the Bonnes- Mares. As good as this is, it isn’t as compelling as I had hoped. It’s hard to believe I did not catch the Bonnes-Mares during an awkward stage. Today, some of the magic is missing. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2040.Leave it to Frederic Mugnier to take a contrarian view of the 2010 vintage. Mugnier is quite clear in espousing his opinion that not only is 2009 a better vintage than 2010, but that the 2009s will be longer-lived as well. His advice to me was to drink the 2010s now and cellar the 2009s. Mugnier’s highly personal take is also reflected in the unconventional order in which these wines were tasted. I have to say, it was quite eye-opening to taste the wines in a different sequence than is the norm, as it keeps the palate and intellect sharp. The harvest started on September 22. As has been the case for a while, the focus is on doing as little as possible to the wines once they are in cellar, which among other things means that new oak is now practically non-existent here. Readers who want to learn more might want to take a look at my interview with Frederic Mugnier posted on our website.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91-94 RP

From the Howell Mountain Arc Vineyard (usually 1,300 to 1,400 cases produced in a normal year), the 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Arc Vineyard could be a candidate for perfection when it hits full maturity in 7-8 years. However, I wouldn’t hesitate to drink it now given the sweetness of the tannin and the abundance of the ripe, concentrated, delicious fruit. The nose exhibits classic aromas of mulberries, graphite, licorice, forest floor, black currants and blackberries. This is a broad, full throttle, multilevel, sensational wine.Proprietor Jayson Woodbridge, one of the wine world’s most compelling, outspoken, irreverent, bigger-than-life personalities, can get away with just about anything he wants to say or do simply because year after year he proves what great wine is all about from his 15-acre Kayli Morgan Vineyard east of St. Helena, his 15-acre parcel on Howell Mountain, and another vineyard on the upslope of the Eisele Vineyard (recently acquired by Chateau Latour in Pauillac), called Few and Far Between. Woodbridge was recently profiled in a wonderful graphic wine magazine called “Loam Baby,” and may have set a Guiness Book World record for the number of times the word “F***” was used in that interview. I first met Woodbridge, who hales from Canada, when he released his first vintage, 2000, which is still going strong and showing more staying power than I would ever have imagined even though I loved the wine from the beginning. It remains a sensational wine at age 13. He currently has six cuvees of Cabernet Sauvignon, the Kayli Morgan Vineyard, the Arc Vineyard on Howell Mountain, the Few and Far Between Vineyard in Calistoga near the Eisele Vineyard, a wine called Deep Time which spends considerably more time in barrel than its siblings, a wine called Precious, and depending on his mood, another wine called Fortunate Son. He also makes a hedonistic, attractive Pinot Noir from the Stanly Vineyard called Cherry Pie, and he has had enormous success with the high quality yet bargain-basement priced selections from around the world called Layer Cake. The Few and Far Between Vineyard is a 5-acre parcel on what Woodbridge calls the “upside of the Eisele Vineyard.” The only blend in his portfolio, this cuvee includes 15% Cabernet Franc. The first vintage was 2008, and this is another exceptional wine, with the 2010 achieving perfection and the 2012 capable of doing so. I only tasted two vintages of the Precious cuvee made from Woodbridge’s favorite barrels. Normally he limits production to 100 or so cases, which would be four barrels. I only tasted one vintage of the Cabernet Sauvignon Deep Time because it spends up to 40 months in barrel and almost becomes like a great chef’s reduction sauce because of evaporation. It is normally a selection from the Kayli Morgan Vineyard. It is a remarkable wine, but very little is available.Robert Parker | 98+ RP(15.5% alcohol): Good dark red. Pure sex appeal on the nose, with black raspberry, licorice, menthol and mineral aromas buoyed by a violet quality. Like liquid velvet on the palate; a great, sweet fruit bomb with a positively three-dimensional texture. Dark berry flavors are complicated by a saline element and lifted by sneaky underlying minerality. The finish is lightly saline and endless, with ripe tannins totally buffered by the wine's voluptuous texture. My sample gained in firmness with 48 hours in the recorked bottle without losing any of its verve, a very good sign for its likely aging curve.Vinous Media | 95+ VMPure, ripe and plush, with tiers of blackberry, raspberry, cherry, plum, mocha and spice. Shows some heat from ripeness, causing the finish to becomes a bit diffuse. Needs a little time. Drink now through 2024. 700 cases made.Wine Spectator | 92 WS

This is still very tight and closed with so much depth and beauty. The linear line to this is very vertical and draws you down. It shows intense blackberry, dark-chocolate, hazelnut and walnut character. Full body. Chewy yet extremely polished. Precise. Shows decadence. So drinkable already, but better in 2022.James Suckling | 99 JSOpaque violet. Intensely perfumed, expansive black and blue fruit preserve, potpourri, Moroccan spice and botanical herb scents are complemented by smoky mineral and vanilla flourishes. Sappy, penetrating and deeply concentrated on the palate, offering vibrant, mineral-laced black currant, bitter cherry, chewing tobacco, mocha and floral pastille flavors that deepen and turn sweeter on the back half. Shows superb focus and vibrant, floral lift on the wonderfully long, youthfully tannic finish, which leaves behind cherry liqueur, candied violet and spicecake notes.Vinous Media | 98 VMUnico is Tinto Fino, with 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, in contrast to Valbuena No.5, which has a small dash of Merlot. It opens with alluring aromas of dark plums, spice and oak. As expected, it’s powerful, intense and very long, but within that you can note the very fine tannins, the result of the assiduous attention to ageing in different types and sizes of vats over the years. There’s an element of tobacco smoke, of black fruits, of the dark plums promised in the aromas, the whole beautifully integrated. A vintage and a wine that’s hard to better. This has 25 to 30 years ahead of it, but you could also enjoy it within a few years - that’s the essence of Vega Sicilia, its interplay of youth and ageability. Drinking Window 2025 - 2050.Decanter | 98 DECI was surprised by the aromatics of the 2010 Único, cropped from a powerful and concentrated year that delivered this blend of 94% Tinto Fino (aka Tempranillo) and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, with 14.5% alcohol and a highish pH of 3.87. It fermented with indigenous yeasts and matured in a combination of French and American oak barrels and 20,000-liter oak vats and aged for almost six years. It feels quite ripe and somehow old style, dominated by ripe black fruit, with a rustic and earthy touch. It has an ample palate, concentrated and powerful, with some earthy tannins. 85,185 bottles, 3,362 magnums, 228 double magnums and 36 Imperials were produced. It was bottled in June 2016.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97 RPThis red is dense, balanced and complex. Plum, dried currant, cigar box, leather and mineral flavors mingle over ripe, well-integrated tannins. Orange peel acidity keeps this lively through the long, floral finish. Harmonious and graceful, in a classic style. Tinto Fino and Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink now through 2030. 7,000 cases made, 740 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 96 WSAs meaty and gamey as dry-aged filet mignon, this is a complex and sophisticated vintage of Unico. It grows in parcels of old vines rising up a north-facing hillside, the soil flecked with gypsum that has crystalized, glinting amidst the layers of limestone and clay. The wine itself layers cranberry, fig and black-mushroom flavors into its sleek richness and power while the structure remains tight as a drum, even at ten years of age. Built for the long haul.Wine & Spirits | 93 W&S

(Domaine Pierre Damoy Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru Red) This is notably spicier than the Chapelle with primarily purple fruit aromas and earth nuances sliding gracefully into beautifully detailed, rich and almost painfully intense large-scaled flavors that are overtly muscular and robust, all wrapped in a dusty finish where the tannins are dense but fine. The length is even better and this too should reward long-term aging, in fact it will absolutely need it as this is a powerful Bèze. (Drink starting 2025)Burghound | 93 BHThe 2010 Chambertin-Clos de Bèze shows the power of the vintage in its dark red fruit, flowers, smoke and graphite. It is a big, unrestrained wine loaded with intensity and sheer muscle. The aromas and flavors continue to open up with time in the glass. A seriously intense finish layered with deep floral and mentholated notes rounds things out. Damoy's Bèze is a blend of parcels predominantly planted in 1920, with some vineyards that date back to 1947 and 1980.Antonio Galloni | 92-94 AGThe 2010 Chambertin-Clos de Beze shows the power of the vintage in its dark red fruit, flowers, smoke and graphite. It is a big, unrestrained wine loaded with intensity and sheer muscle. The aromas and flavors continue to open up with time in the glass. A seriously intense finish layered with deep floral and mentholated notes rounds things out. Damoy's Beze is a blend of parcels predominantly planted in 1920, with some vineyards that date back to 1947 and 1980. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2030.Once again I was thrilled with the wines I tasted with Pierre Damoy, a grower who doesn't get anywhere near the recognition he deserves. Yields were down dramatically, around 30-40%, just as they were throughout the region. Damoy did not begin picking until October 1, quite late for the year.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92-94 RP

(Domaine Mongeard-Mugneret Richebourg Grand Cru Red) An intensely floral and gloriously spicy nose of ripe and highly complex black cherry liqueur and rose petal aromas leads to impressively dense and brooding large-scaled flavors that possess fantastic depth and positively stunning length. I have experience with almost every Mongeard Richebourg since the first vintage in 1984 and I have never seen one with more potential than this one though not surprisingly, patience will be needed. In a word, brilliant. (Drink starting 2030)Burghound | 94-96 BH(Richebourg- Domaine Mongeard-Mugneret) The 2010 Richebourg just noses out the Grands Echézeaux this year as the best wine in the cellar, but, at least at this early stage, this is a race that is likely to go right down to the wire for king of the cellar. The stunning and utterly refined nose soars from the glass in a blend of red and black cherries, black plums, dark chocolate, fresh herb tones, complex soil nuances, woodsmoke and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and very pure, with a fine sense of reserve, a rock solid core, brilliant transparency (particularly for Richebourg), ripe tannins, tangy acids and outstanding length and grip on the utterly refined finish. A beautiful, beautiful wine. (Drink between 2025-2100)John Gilman | 96+ JG

(Romanée-St.-Vivant- Domaine Dujac) There is always very little Romanée-St.-Vivant in the Dujac cellars, and with the very short yields in 2010, this chronic shortage will be exacerbated. I cannot recall precisely how few barrels there were of the RSV this year, but there is not much of this magical elixir. The profoundly complex nose offers up scents of cherries, raspberries, coffee, exotic spice tones, a brilliant base of soil, a touch of pain epice, woodsmoke, gamebird and spicy new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, very pure and elegant, with kaleidoscopic minerality, refined tannins, tangy acids and stunning length and grip on the beautiful finish. (Drink between 2022-2075)John Gilman | 97+ JG(Domaine Dujac Romanée St. Vivant Grand Cru Red) Like several of these 2010s, this is aromatically reserved to the point that only aggressive swirling liberates reluctant notes of spice, violets and a mix of perfumed red and black liqueur scents. The delicious, intense and beautifully detailed middle weight flavors possess a highly sophisticated mouth feel before terminating in a massively persistent, pure and harmonious finish. This seriously classy and exceptionally stylish effort is the epitome of power without weight, indeed it is textbook RSV. (Drink starting 2025)Burghound | 96 BHGood bright, full red. Aromas of crushed red berries, eucalyptus and blood orange, given even more punch by a suggestion of citrus peel. Pungent and penetrating in the mouth, with the crushed-grape character giving this very pure, focused wine an extremely primary quality today. With its rather powerful tannic spine, this is an infant. I would not be surprised if it needed 15 years to approach its plane of peak maturity.Vinous Media | 95+ VMThe 2010 Romanee Saint Vivant comes across as quite delicate, floral and feminine. Sweet red cherries, crushed flowers and mint wrap around the finish in this weightless, airy RSV. I have seen this wine grow significantly once it is in bottle, and expect that will be the case here as well. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2040.Dujac fans will be thrilled with these 2010s. They are off the charts. The most difficult thing will no doubt be finding them. Jeremy Seysses reported yields down by 30-50% across the board, although his Morey blanc was down a whopping 90%. The poor flowering and wet summer resulted in loose bunches with a high amount of shot berries. The wines came in at 12 to 12.5% potential alcohol and were lightly chaptalized. Seysses used 80-90% stems for most of the wines, a little less for some, such as the Charmes and Combettes (around 70%) and more for the Chambertin and RSV (both 100%). Unfortunately, the 2010 Morey 1er Cru was too reduced to evaluate, so I will have to wait for another opportunity to taste the wine. I also tasted the entire range of 2009s. I will report on those wines in the April issue.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93-96 RP

A wine that could easily be mistaken for a First Growth, the 2010 Rauzan-Ségla is an incredibly powerful, full-bodied wine by this estate’s standards, yet it nevertheless holds onto a terrific sense of elegance as well as perfect balance. A huge nose of blackcurrants, smoked earth, tobacco, lead pencil, and spice give way to a concentrated, blockbuster styled Margaux that has thrilling depth of fruit, masses of ripe tannins, and great length and finesse on the finish. This brilliant wine is just now seemingly on the edge of its drink window and offers immense pleasure, yet it has another 30-40 years of life ahead of it. Along with the 2015 and 2016, it’s the greatest wine made at this estate in the past two decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 98 JDDeep garnet in color, the 2010 Rauzan-Ségla is youthfully reticent and closed to begin, slowly unfurling to offer notions of underbrush, black truffles, smoked meats and tar over a core of baked black cherries, prunes and crème de cassis plus touches of iron ore and crushed rocks. Full-bodied, concentrated and jam-packed with savory/earthy fruit, it has a rock-solid structure of firm, grainy tannins and oodles of freshness, finishing with great length and expression.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96 RPOne of the top Margaux wines, this is in top form, finely balanced and as elegant as it is powerful. It is darkly structured, dense yet balancing tannins with ripe black plums. It expresses the complexity of the vintage. A wine for serious, long-term aging.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WEThe 2010 Rauzan-Ségla has a wonderful bouquet, very pure and engaging with wild strawberry, blackberry, rose petals and boysenberry jam. It just feels very focused and beautifully delineated. The palate is medium-bodied with lively red and black fruit laced with cracked black pepper and cedar. It is extremely balanced, almost symmetrical, with a precise and persistent finish. Bon vin. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners 10-Year On Bordeaux horizontal.Vinous Media | 95 VMFlashy style of Margaux, with alluring warm cocoa and black tea aromatics followed by cashmere-textured plum sauce, steeped fig and blackberry confiture notes. The well-integrated structure makes this seem almost accessible now, but the ample length and a smoldering tobacco note make a case for cellaring. Best from 2014 through 2030. 9,666 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WSThere’s a wonderful deep and dark fruit to this second wine from Rauzan Segla, with hints of soft tannins. Lovely ripe fruit and a chocolate, light raisin at the end.James Suckling | 90-91 JS(Château Rauzan-Ségla) The 2010 Château Rauzan-Ségla is another fine example of the vintage, but much like the 2010 Château Rauzan-Gassies, a completely traditional approach once again in the cellars here would pay dividends in terms of even more profound expression of terroir. The bouquet on the 2010 is a very classy blend of cassis, dark berries, tobacco, gravelly soil tones, classy new wood and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and sappy at the core, with fine focus and a fair bit of firm, slightly dry-edged tannins on the long and bouncy finish. A touch of the tannins here seem derived already from the new wood, but the overall balance is splendid and this wine should have no difficulty carrying its wood over the long haul. A very successful, ever so slightly “overly-polished” example of the vintage. (Drink between 2020 - 2050)John Gilman | 90+ JG

The 2010 Proprietary Red is very deep garnet colored with a hint of purple. It offers up wonderfully bold, expressive notes of crème de cassis, black cherry compote and mincemeat pie with wafts of bay leaves, incense, Chinese five spice and hoisin plus wafts of chargrill and yeast extract. Full-bodied, rich and opulent, the palate is laden with layer upon layer of exotic spice-laced black fruits with a firm yet plush frame and very long finish with some licorice notes coming through.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97 RPFull medium ruby. Very ripe but reticent scents of black fruits, minerals, mocha, espresso and spices. Voluptuous and plush on entry, saturating the palate with a slightly unrefined wave of black fruits, minerals and mocha. This outsized, full-bodied, plummy wine shows lovely mineral verve, surprisingly restrained sweetness and a complicating saline element. Finishes with sumptuous, building tannins and terrific plum and graphite persistence. This wine is ripe enough to give great pleasure now but I’d still hold my bottles for the tannins to be further absorbed. It certainly has the stuffing to go on for many more years.Vinous Media | 94 VMA big and rich red with black currant and blueberry and chocolate. Full and vast. A more typical Napa cab of the period. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 94 JS

Power combined with elegance in the 2010. A dusting of dark cocoa powder, cola, mint, exotic sweet spices, caramel, toast and blackcurrants on the nose. Juicy and vibrant, more lean than I was expecting, tannins are fine and supportive with clear austerity and bitterness around the edge, giving a spiced frame that lets the fruit pulse through the middle. This is certainly on the intense side, but not weighty at all, concentration balanced by high acidity and a lovely stony minerality underneath that, really puts you in St-Emilion on the terroir. Direct and focussed, precise and lifted with a minty, liquorice finish. Feels like a very representative TrotteVieille though give this more time before opening.Decanter | 96 DECAn extracted wine, showing bitter chocolate as much as fruit. There is a core of dark tannins, very firm, with licorice, wood and a tight texture. Often Trottevieille shows this austerity when young, and this 2010 is no exception. It will develop slowly into a serious and concentrated wine.Wine Enthusiast | 93 WEComposed of 58% Cabernet Franc and 42% Merlot, the 2010 Trotte Vieille is deep garnet in color and starts off with some sweaty leather notions on the nose, giving way to a core of baked black plums, dried mulberries and fruitcake plus wafts of fallen leaves and tobacco. Full-bodied, the palate has a taut line of chewy tannins and oodles of freshness supporting the baked berry layers, finishing long and earthy.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91 RPThe 2010 Trotte Vieille is very ripe and almost Mediterranean in style on the nose: black olives and liquorice infusing the rich red fruit, just a hint of hung game in the background. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, fleshy and generous, almost Châteauneuf in style with a pinch of spicebox and sage towards the finish. Drinking perfectly now, but where is it going to go? Tasted blind at Farr Vintners 10-Year On Bordeaux horizontal.Vinous Media | 91 VMDark and ripe, but nicely polished, with a dark tea and roasted cedar frame to the currant paste and fig notes. The solid finish is well-coated with ganache and smolders nicely with a lingering tobacco hint that should emerge steadily in this slightly old-school version. Best from 2014 through 2025.Wine Spectator | 91 WS

The 2010 Chateauneuf du Pape flirts with perfection. A classic blend of 65% Grenache, 20% Mourvedre and the rest Syrah, Vaccarese and Counoise, all aged in large foudres in Clos des Papes’s air-conditioned and humidity-controlled wine cellar, the wine boasts a dense purple color along with lots of gorgeously pure black raspberry, black currant and kirsch liqueur notes intermixed with notions of spring flowers, tapenade, licorice and spice box. This dense, full-bodied, powerful Chateauneuf is also remarkably fresh and well-delineated. It even exceeded the 2007 in natural alcohol, coming in at 15.9%. With an extraordinary texture and considerable tannin in the finish, it will benefit from 3-5 years of bottle age, and is built for 25-30 years of cellaring. Don’t miss it!This admirably run estate has essentially been practicing biodynamic farming for nearly 15 years, but they were not certified as biodynamic until 2011.Robert Parker | 99 RP(Clos Des Papes Chateauneuf Du Pape) Utterly classic Clos de Papes in every way, the 2010 Châteauneuf du Pape is still youthful and in its early adolescent phase, offering a beautiful mix of still pure, clean fruit and more peppery, spicy, leather, and complex Southern Rhône-like street market goodness. Rich and powerful on the palate, it’s flawlessly balanced, has ripe, polished tannins, and a monster of a finish. It’s just a beautiful, quintessential example of this First Growth-like estate in the South of France.Jeb Dunnuck | 99 JDLots of cocoa powder and coffee frame a massive block of dark plum, black currant and fig fruit, while massively endowed tannins stride from start to finish. Cassis, anise and Lapsang souchong tea notes hang in the background for now, but should emerge more with extended cellaring. The very dark, almost brooding finish is dominated by charcoal-coated grip, but the purity still wins out in the end. A very, very large wine. Best from 2017 through 2035. 5,600 cases made, 710 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 98 WSUndoubtedly one of the greatest Châteauneuf vintages of recent times, up there with the 1990 - and perhaps the 2016; time will tell. It’s deeply coloured still at seven years of age. Deep, dark and brooding on the nose, it’s starting to take on some balsamic and forest floor notes. The palate is very harmonious, powerful and assertive, with firm, structural tannins. This is still very fresh, sinewy and tightly wound - it’s not ready yet, but will be spectacular when it is. Drinking Window 2020 - 2040.Decanter | 98 DECInky ruby. Potent, intensely perfumed aromas on raspberry liqueur, cherry-cola, anise and smoky garrigue. Spicy and incisive, offering palate-staining red and dark berry flavors that become richer with air. Shows a superb balance of richness and vivacity, with dusty tannins giving grip to a long, spice- and floral-dominated finish. One of the top wines from the entire Rhone from this outstanding vintage.Vinous Media | 96 VM

The 2010 Clos Saint Jean Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Combe des Fous is an utterly brilliant wine! A blend of 60% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 10% Cinsault, and 10% Vaccarese, it offers an extraordinary bouquet of spring flowers, sappy garrigue, ground pepper, and searing minerality that is anchored by a core of sweet red and black fruits. More elegant and seamless than the Deus-Ex Machina, it has full-bodied power, layers of texture, and a blockbuster finish that highlights masses of silky tannin. Thrilling stuff and my favorite vintage of the cuvee to date, it deserves 3-4 years of bottle age, and will evolve for 2+ decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 99 JDAlso up with the top wines of the vintage, the 2010 Chateauneuf-du-Pape Combe des Fous shows the darker fruit and minerality of the vintage with its creme de cassis, blackberry, ground pepper, licorice and ample crushed rock-like minerality. Gaining more than one expletive in the notes, this full-bodied 2010 has thrilling purity of fruit, massive underlying structure and a rich, layered and decadent feel on the finish. As with most 2010s, it needs another 3 to 4 years of bottle age and will easily have two decades of overall longevity.Since taking control of the estate in 2002, and bringing on board rock star consultant Philippe Cambie, the Maurel brothers has been knocking it out of the park in literally every vintage. 2004? Gorgeous wines and easily at the top in a recent retrospective. The cooler, rainy 2008? Beautiful ripeness and texture, and again, at the top of the hierarchy. 2011 is the same story, and it’s amazing what this team has accomplished in all of their vintages. Looking at this retrospective, we went through all of their cuvees going back to 2003. Unfortunately, there’s no new information here, and this tasting simply confirmed what myself and Robert Parker have been saying for some time now; Clos Saint Jean is at the top of their game and producing some of the most singular, hedonistic and brilliant wines in the world.Starting out with the classic Chateauneuf du Pape, it’s normally a blend of 75% Grenache, with the balance a mix of Syrah, Mourvedre, Cinsault, Muscardin and Vaccarese. As is common at this estate, the Grenache is aged all in tank, and the other varieties in a mix of tank and barrels. While I think this cuvee always lags the Vieilles Vignes bottling, it is consistently outstanding and always a super value.Moving to the old vine cuvee, this is made especially for the US Market and is 85% tank aged, old vine Grenache, and the balance Syrah and Mourvedre. It too almost always represents a crazy value and has a broad drink window. I’m currently finishing up a case of the ’08, and purchased two cases of the 2010, which is just starting to open back up after closing down shortly after release.As to the Combe des Fous release, this cuvée comes from a single plot of vines and is based largely on Grenache, with roughly 20% Syrah and 10% each of Vaccarese and Cinsault in the blend. The Grenache is aged all in tank and the other components see time in mostly demi-muids. While the Deux ex Machina always impresses more with its overt power and muscle, this cuvee always seems more polished, fine and elegant to me.One of the greatest cuvees on earth, the Maurel brother’s Sanctus Sanctorum is 100% Grenache that comes from a single plot of vines in the La Crau lieu dit. Aged all in demi-muid, it’s been one of the greatest wines I’ve ever tasted, every time I’ve tasted it. All three of these were sheer perfection on this occasion, yet each has its own unique profile.Lastly, and always the most powerful of the cuvees, the Deus Ex Machina is a blend of 60% tank aged Grenache and 40% demi-muid aged Mourvedre that all comes from 70-100 year old vines. The Mourvedre component is really what defines this cuvee, and it possesses the most obvious structure and mid-palate richness in the lineup. Seeming to hit maturity around age 10 or so, it can be consumed relatively early in its life due to its wealth of fruit, texture, and incredibly polished tannin. In addition, don’t miss this cuvee in the lighter vintages, as even their 2004 and 2008 show classic character and no shortage of richness.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 99 RP(made from 60% grenache and 20% syrah, with cinsault, vaccarese and muscardin): Inky ruby. Heady, spice-accented aromas of dark berry preserves, potpourri and smoky minerals. Stains the palate with intense black raspberry and lavender pastille flavors and becomes spicier with air. Powerful yet lithe and seamless, with superb finishing clarity and lingering floral notes. Tannins make a late appearance but are quickly absorbed by this wine's luscious fruit.Vinous Media | 95 VMThis is very densely packed, with toasted fig bread, charcoal, roasted espresso bean, steeped black currant and blackberry fruit, followed by a flash of pastis on the finish. Very dark and rich, but has grip and length for balance, revealing a terrific, but deeply embedded, graphite spine in reserve. Best from 2015 through 2030. 500 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WS

The 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon is the first of the 20-year vertical to show soft herbal notes with sage and bay leaf elements, as the fruit condition begins to shift from lively and youthful fruit tones to more mature tones of dried black and dark red fruit in the glass. Medium to full-bodied, the wine is beginning to go through the change with still-firm tannins and a juicy, ripe essence of fruit. The 2011 is an outlier of sorts, since, in this vintage, Quilceda Creek suffered a major loss to many of its Cabernet blocks at Champoux Vineyard, forcing them to seek out and outsource other fruit in 2011. Luckily the Wallula Vineyard had quality Cabernet to offer, and the rest is history.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RP(more than one-third of the 2011 crop came in at less than one ton an acre; done entirely in new oak, including 25% T5 Taransaud barrels, which now set back American buyers about $1,700 apiece, according to Paul Golitzin): Bright, full medium ruby. Reticent but pure aromas of dark berries, bitter chocolate and graphite minerality. Densely packed, concentrated and serious, conveying a powerful impression of youthful grip to its savory dark fruit, floral and mineral flavors. Most impressive right now on the palate-staining finish, which features powerful yet harmonious tannins and a strong savory character. It will be a real treat to taste this wine next to the equally extraordinary 2010 a decade from now. Certainly these two cool growing seasons are huge successes for Quilceda Creek.Vinous Media | 95+ VMFirm in texture, with a layer of drying tannins around a brilliantly focused core of blackberry and currant, coming together on the finish and persisting well. Has the goods to age. Best from 2016 through 2021. 2,250 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WS

The 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Galitzine Vineyard comes all from the Golitzin’s Red Mountain vineyard and is almost all Cabernet Sauvignon. One of the richest and most concentrated wines in the vintage, it offer fabulous creme de cassis, black raspberry, graphite, toast and licorice aromas and flavors to go with a full-bodied, seamless and beautifully balanced profile on the palate. As expected, it doesn’t have the sheer wealth of material that’s present in the prior vintages, yet everything is perfectly proportioned, it has excellent mid-palate depth and notable, sweet tannin. It benefits from a decant and will have upwards of two decades of longevity.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RP(100% Cabernet Sauvignon): Bright, deep ruby. Superripe but brooding aromas of cassis, blackberry, violet and licorice are wonderfully pure and sweet, even a bit port-like. More powerful and less elegant than the estate’s flagship wine; in a more medicinal Napa Valley direction. This very densely packed, wine is still a baby and will need extended aging to absorb its strong oak-powered tannins. The Golitzins present this wine last because they feel it’s usually more phenolic.Vinous Media | 93+ VM

A blend of 61% Merlot, 26% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc and the balance Petit Verdot, the 2011 Palengat Vineyard has a great bouquet of sweet plum liqueur, blackberry, graphite, lead pencil shavings and toast. This is followed by a full-bodied effort that has beautiful concentration (especially in the vintage), loads of texture and ripe underlying tannic structure. Reasonably approachable now, it will nevertheless evolve gracefully on its overall balance. Enjoy bottles over the coming 10-15 years.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RP(a blend of 61% Merlot, 26% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc and 4% petit verdot made from Palengat and Champoux vineyard fruit): Good full ruby-red. Dark, inviting aromas of blackcurrant, black raspberry and cocoa powder. Shows the lush, fine-grained texture of topnotch Merlot, not to mention the black fruit and dark chocolate notes of the variety, along with sexy floral lift from the Cabernet Franc. Seriously good, gripping wine with terrific density and chocolatey length.Vinous Media | 93 VM