Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

Move over 2009, 2010 is the greatest vintage ever.

I went to to a tasting in London last night:

Extraordinary (unspittable): Leoville Barton, Branaire Ducru, Gruaud Larose, Conseillante and Pape Clement (surprisingly elegant!)

Magnificent: Pichon Lalande, GPL, Rausan Segla, Rausan Gazzies, Figeac, La Dominique, Grand Mayne, Gazin, Haut-Bailly

Excellent: Pichon Baron, Langoa Barton, Leoville Poyferre, Talbot, Giscours, Franc Mayne, Clos Fourtet, DDC, SHL, Petit Village, Climens, La Tour Blanche, Louviere Blanc

Very good: Lynch Bages, Soutard, Duforts, Ferriere, La Gaffeliere,

It is telling that they wanted to hold this event...they need to shift inventory...and the spin was universally the same...(to the winemaker) "which vintage do you prefer" or "which is the better vintage"...the 2009 or 2010?...it is always the 2010 because it is more (in a French accent) "structured", "balanced", "fresher" than the 2009s...but you have to say the overall quality is quite breath-taking...they have structure, fine tannins, some opulence, breeding, elegance and a lightness/defness (despite in some cases alarmingly high alcohol); generally less exuberant than some of the 09s, but without the spirity finish some 09s have

Well they should be for the price.

we are a very lucky group

I was just wondering. I seem to recall that the '10s were in general more expensive than the '09s. Maybe it was a currency effect. But the 10s did seem to be at "copulating deity" pricing levels. Then I was thinking, there's the OMG! brand/channel on the internet but is there a OMFG! brand/channel on the internet too?

After 09, which came over me at the time I was still backfiling with 03s, 04s, 05s etc., I just basically said who cares to the 10s. Maybe I'll have to buy a case of something just to have 12 bottles for 2030-2042.

I see the 2010 La Dominique for $26 in 375ml, $45 in 750ml... the 2010 Grand Mayne is $43 in 750ml...

Not a bad as I would have expected...

What's the drinking window likely to be on these '10's, Ian?

Patrick
The 2010 Grand Mayne makes the 2005 - a wine I really admiire - look like a wimp. The alcohol has gone up from 14.5% to 15.5% (the highest on the night, more typically 14% but generally higher on the right bank than the left), but it carries its weight remarkably deftly. If you can pick one up for $43 it is definitely worth a try...in the same of science.
The Dominique, which I tasted side by side with the Grand Mayne - the two winemakers were sharing the same table - is a more elegant traditional saint Emilion (it was about 14% ABV), which I thought represented superb value for money. To buy a split to try for $26 is a no brainer. Love to get your impressions.
If I had the money, which I don't, I would buy Conseillante, Dominique, Pape Clement, Gruaud Larose, Leoville Barton and Branaire Ducru.

And Mouton, and Latour, and Pontet-Canet, yada yada yada...

I've always been a huge fan of the 2010s, but I'm not a fan of the prices.
I think because HWSRN will give higher scores in the end to the 2009s than the 2010s, we may see some re-evaluation in pricing when the negoc actually receive the bottled wine and have to start shifting it. I feel that the 2010 prices will fall in the short to medium term, but inevitably time will show them well and prices will rise again.

The bottles tasted on Monday for me were almost identical to how they tasted from barrel, rather than simply shutting up shop and giving you the finger, which shows that everything is wonderfully balanced. We just have to wait for the wines to evolve...

One tip however is to stay as far away from Troplong-Mondot as you possibly can!!!
What am I saying, that is the best thing since time began. Buy Buy Buy! :p

Luckily I had loaded up on '10 Dominique with orders for 21 bottles. My taste seems to align well with Suckling's and he rated it well for the price, so I thought I'd take a chance. I also bought a smattering few bottles of other '10, most notable of which is Beausejour Duffau, Montrose, Cos d'Estournel, Ducru and some Troplong Mondot (Jonob, I hope the Troplong Mondot as good as you say ). It's quite a stretch for me to buy wines like these, but I just couldn't resist.

I've bought quite a lot of middle ranking 2010's including Dominique.
I hope they are as good as 2009 as the 09s I have tried so far are wonderful wines and in fact offer good value (okay, I don;t mean lafite or Ausone, I mean the lesser ranked Cru Classe' and CB's).

I thought though that they are more tannic wines compared to 2009, maybe that is not true??

Jim, has the 2010 boycott been rescinded?

They are far more tannic, but they have similarly styled fruit and rasping (verging on astringent acidity) that gives them fantastic balance across the board.
However, it is a vintage to buy the top wines and GCC. The Cru Bourgeois are ropey at a push. Some are pleasant but it really is about terroir in 2010. 2009 was probably more consistent but perhaps not as exciting.

Bacchus wrote:Jim, has the 2010 boycott been rescinded?

I had a wedding anniversary exemption but I still haven't purchased anything.
Poujeaux is still looking at me with beady eyes!

Requests for exemptions from the 2010 boycott will be handled on a case by case basis, Bacchus.

Sincerely,
Your Kind and Generous Benevolent Dictator

The '10s are too tannic for an old fart like me, especially considering how much is already in the cellar. I'm hoping I'll last as long as my '05s and '09s. If I'm still swirling and sipping when the '10s hit their peak, I'll trade some older wines for them.

You're a young man, David! Buy yourself a few mixed cases of 2010 left bankers. A BD exemption. Because I am kind and benevolent. You'll thank me in your late seventies!

I want to drink a 2010 Lynch Bages before I die.

I want to drink a 2010 Lynch Bages after I die.

Jono
What has impressed me so much with 09 is that across the board (okay, I didn;t like some lesserr wines like Fronsacs but proabably never will) they are lush, balanced and complex AND still taste like classic Bordeaux with ripe tannins and balancing acidity. Okay, richer than what is generally considered classic Bordeaux but I haave little doubt that the character of Bordeaux is there in both left and right banks. Maybe a modern 61 rather than 82??
I would also say that for some lesser wines (i mean lower ranked CC's like Camensac and many CBs) I have never tasted wines from many estates that are as good as 2009, and at the lower end, the wines are better than 2005 (wherre the lesser wines to me seem too tannic and coarse at times).

I checked the list of wines I bought in 2010, and included full cases of the following:


CH CALON SEGUR 2010
CH SOCIANDO MALLET 2010
CH CLOS DE L'ORATOIRE 2010
CH LA CONFESSION 2010
CH HAUT BERGEY 2010
CH LA LAGUNE 2010
CH LA FLEUR CARDINALE 2010
DOMAINE DE CHEVALIER ROUGE 2010
CH MONBOUSQUET 2010
CH PRIEURE LICHINE 2010
CH LA DOMINIQUE 2010
CH BARDE HAUT 2010
CH L'ARROSEE 2010
CH CANTENAC BROWN 2010
CH GISCOURS 2010

The presence of more St Emilion and Margaux wines is parttly due to the simple fact that at 55 years of age and with various degenerative (and incurable) conditions, I am having myself on buying Latour and expecting to drink it at its prime.

I have not historically been a big buyer of St emilons and Pomerols but I think my tastes are also changing and I find that most of these wines can be drunk with pleasure young(ish) or old.

I am looking forward to trying a few 2010s when they hit these shores - maybe in a line up against 2009!

JimHow wrote:You're a young man, David! Buy yourself a few mixed cases of 2010 left bankers. A BD exemption. Because I am kind and benevolent. You'll thank me in your late seventies!

I AM A ROCK

A winter's day
In a deep and dark December;
I am alone,
Gazing from my monitor to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

I've built walls,
A cellar deep and mighty,
That none may penetrate.
I have no need of 2010s; 2010s cause pain.
It's tannins and it's acid I disdain.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

Don't talk of Lynch,
But I've heard the words before;
It's sleeping in my memory.
I won't disturb the slumber of feelings that have died.
If I never Baged I never would have cried.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

I have my '00s
And my '09s to protect me;
I am shielded in my armor,
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb.
I touch no '10s and no '10s will touch me.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

And a rock feels no pain;
And an island never cries.

stefan wrote:I want to drink a 2010 Lynch Bages after I die.

OK, 'splain me how we do that, and I'm in for a case...

Don't you believe in That Great Tasting Room in the Sky, Doctor?

If it's Heaven I guess they allow shipping and corkage. Wouldn't there also be a well-stocked cellar, so why buy it here?

I'm not convinced that the Bibendum 2010 tasting event was about shifting stock. The producers are in London anyway for the UGC tasting, and this isn't the first time it has been held, there was one last year as well. Unless you're implying that they need to increase sales in every vintage and not just 2010.

It really is a superb vintage, and I love the combination of ripe fruit character, combined with overt acidity and correct tannins. It will be regarded as a supreme vintage in years to come I think.

I can't go into detail on every wine tasted but on the whole I found very few disappointments, except for St Emilion where the conditions of the vintage were against them making the style of wine I prefer. The tannins were hard, and the alcohols high, issues with the balance of sugar vs. physiological ripeness I think, perhaps also extraction (nothing new there) but also style. I don't like the modern Troplong Mondot (the 2010 is knocking on 16% isn't it?) and it's disappointing to me to see Grand Mayne in the same style. These are the two least attractive wine in the appellation (within the confines of those I have tasted, obviously) for my palate. I hadn't relaised (although I should have guessed) Grand Mayne was up at 15.5%, thanks for that info.

As a contrast, I really liked Figeac in St Emilion - totally different character (in a good way, to my palate).

Agree with lots of the other faves listed. So expensive though....I will have to look at picking up individual bottles and trios/six-packs rather than case after case.

Gilman just posted on Wine berserkers that 2010 will be very hit and miss. He prefers 2009 to 2010, but says that 2005 is the best recent vintage of them all.

Interesting, as Gilman's not a fan of ripe low acid Bdx.

Gilman thinks many 2010 are out of balance with green acids, and so finds the 09's are more consistent.

I have a very different view on 2010 BDX vs. 2009 BDX than our friends from across the pond. Clearly some 2010 wines are better than 2009. But across the board, I find 2009 to be a much better vintage. 2009 BDX are exotic, sensuous and rich. 2010 is a more tannic, structured vintage, but some of those wines are very tannic and lack charm. FWIW, I loved 2010 Troplong Mondot and 2009 Troplong Mondot. But I also believe 2009 Cos d'Estournel is one of the great young wines of my life.

The differences in the vintages are a good thing. All tasters have their own stylistic preference. As a guess and an over generalization, it's quite possible that American tasters are going to refer 2009 over 2010, while many Europeans will pick 2010 over 2009. It remains to be seen, but that's my guess.

I thought pigeon-holing wine drinkers according to their 'American' and 'British' palates went out of fashion years ago. There are too many exceptions to these "rules".

I don't find any lack of charm in 2010, and the only hard tannins are in St Emilion in my opinion, where long hang-time for Merlot and probably over-aggressive extraction seems to have conspired to make caricature wines of what the appellation stands for in modern times, with robust drying tannins, wacky flavours and hot, spirity alcohol. Aside from these appellation-specific aberrrations though, elsewhere - even Pomerol strangely, so it's not just a Merlot-ripeness thing - it's a fabulous vintage.

As for 2009, these wines are lovely too, but in a very different style, much more plush and approachable. I'll be adding both to the cellar; two different styles, and which I choose to drink will depend on my mood on the night in question. Which will probably be about 20 years in the future!

I am buying 2009 and I will grant myself a BD special exemption to purchase 2010. At age 54, I am now planning my cellar into my retirement. My plan is to have 2,000 bottles in my cellar at age 60, for consumption over the next 20 years. Hopefully i wont live too much past 80. Thus, I will not be buying too many more vintages going forward, maybe another four or five. What is the scoop on the 2012 vintage?

Jim, do you drink only 100 bottles/year? That is hard to believe.

That is correct Stefan. I fast 4 months out of the year, and drink twice per week when I don't. The rest of the bottles get opened at holiday events, when I'm hosting dinners, etc. I just can't drink during the week because of my trial practice.

As for pigeonholing, that is why I wrote, "As a guess and an over generalization." Perhaps you've read more reviews than I have, but from what I have read, it does seem that European writers are more fond of 2010 than American writers and the reverse is true of 2009. Is that what you have seen?

I don't keep track of what others are saying Jeff, just say it as I feel it. I would like to read everybody, but simply don't have the time. Too much writing and too many other commitments.

I can confirm, however, that at the UGC tasting in London last week, there was a lot of love for 2010. But then, one year ago, there was a lot of love for 2009. And at the Grand Cru Classé tasting of the 2009-2011 vintages earlier this year, both vintages were recognised as great. It seems to me that the British, and as you say this is nothing more than a generalistion, love both vintages.

Gosh, Jim, I don't think I could do mathematics without drinking wine. If I were a lawyer, I would drink something much stronger and start much earlier in the day.

Yes... That's he problem, stefan....

I don't know if it is myth or reality about the high incidence of alcohol consumption by trial lawyers, but, hey, Paul Newman balanced it...

God, I love this scene:

http://youtu.be/o15uqb30Fq8

And the trailer:

http://youtu.be/7je8_a7chkg

Any Ducru Beaucaillou at the tasting? Contemplating going long on the 2010 DB.

If there was I missed it, I dont think there was and I can't imagine how good it is

Ducru wasn't in attendence but in April 2011 I really liked it... Although it is a far cry from the rigid, backward wines of old... more lush and appealing. Silky FWOABW.