Corkr Fine Wines

Bordeaux 2010 Vintage Report & Scores

Can we really have two consecutive great vintages ?
The answer is yes, but the 2010 vintage is very different
to the 2009.

The 2010 is a classic vintage and has more similarities to
the 2005 and 1990. The majority of the 2010's are seriously tannic, concentrated, with high acidity and high alcohol and
will not be accessible for 10+ years.

We went to Bordeaux not knowing what to expect as the Bordelais had not produced the hype that we had seen with
the 2009.

We started our tastings on the Left Bank with St. Emilion and Pomerol.

As usual Ausone, Cheval Blanc and Angelus were our highlights in St Emilion, but there were some unexpected surprises with Clos Fourtet, Grand Mayne, Pavie, La Gaffeliere, Pavie-Macquin producing one
of their best vintages. These are always good value for money and will provide exceptional drinking.

The quality of the wines in Pomerol was quite varied and when talking to Dennis Durantou of L'Eglise Clinet, he stated it was
all down to when the merlot grapes were picked. The merlot grapes at L'Eglise Clinet were picked early at the end of September, while others waited for the grapes to ripen further, picking as late as mid-October by which time there had been unwanted rain.

Our favourites were L'Eglise Clinet, Vieux Chateau Certain and Petrus (which only two of our group had a chance to taste and praised as another top vintage). Also, Les Cruzelles from the L'Eglise Clinet stable will be a steal if well priced.

The second part of the week, we moved over to the Right Bank to taste the wines of Margaux, St Julien, Pauillac and St Estephe.

Margaux for us was a bit of a disappointment, apart from Chateau Margaux clearly one of the wines of the vintage, and the second wine, Pavillon Rouge du Chateau Margaux. Only a few notable Chateaux produced good wines: Rauzan Gassies, Rauzan Segla and Monbrison; the others either lacked balance or complexity.

St Julien showed well with Cos d'Estournel, Leoville Barton, Leoville Poyferre, Leoville Lascases and Ducru Beaucaillou as
our favourites.

Pauillac triumphed as the appellation of the vintage, with all the
top wines excelling: Latour and Lafite Rothschild scored near perfect scores. Lynch Bages produced, we believe, their greatest vintage ever and Pontet Canet has produced their
first totally biodynamic vintage.

St Estephe did not fair so well but our favourite from the 2009 vintage, Chateau Montrose, again produced a wine that was comparable to most First Growths.

Towards the end of the week, we travelled down to Pessac Leognan.

At the UCG tasting at Malartic Lagravieres the wines on offer were considerably better than we expected with most being scored by us in the 90's. Our favourites were Smith Haut Lafite and Pape Clement, and also of note were Haut Bergey and L'arrivet Haut Brion which we felt had produced their best wine to-date.

Finally, tastings at Haut Brion and its neighbouring property,
La Mission Haut Brion, along with their Second wines.

What can one say?

Without a doubt, all the investment made in both these properties by the Dillon family is now really paying dividends. Haut Brion and Haut Brion Blanc both scoring 98 points, the second wine and a favourite of ours, Clarence de Haut Brion,
a highly impressive 94 points.

La Mission Haut Brion, always overshadowed by its namesake
Haut Brion, has for a consecutive year produced a wine of real
precision. When we think of Bordeaux we automatically thing of Red, but we should not forget there are some outstanding whites produced and La Mission Haut Brion Blanc is one which we scored 95 points

A last word. First Growth chateaux all have second wines, but the 2010 vintage could be described as
"the Re-Birth of the Second Wine". The wines now all bear a remarkably close resemblance to the First wine due to the same care and stringent grape sorting process used. Latour, Margaux and Haut Brion all said that their second wines were no longer viewed or treated as 'Seconds'. Indeed, we should be looking at the wines in their own right.


Our recommendations and Scores:

To fill out a Wine Wish List or to Pre-Order click here - Bordeaux 2010 En Primeur Wine Wish List
or for further information on buying En Primeur, please call us.

Tel:  +44 (0)1728 648916
Email: enquiries@corkr.com