Visited the extraordinary 2010 Cantemerle yet again.

[JimHow]

Drank this beast again last night. I'm sorry, this wine is immense. It is an absolute stunner, approaching first growth/Chateau Margaux quality. Very, very concentrated, inky black color, the perfume on this wine jumps out and fills the room immediately every time I uncork it. I have drunk it about a dozen times now, I have bought another case, and after last night, I intend to buy yet another. This will be a 50 year wine but it is currently exhibiting deep rich fruit, violets on the nose, and just a great texture, "mouthfeel" in the mouth, the classic balance of strength and elegance that I look for from left bank Bordeaux. As I have said repeatedly in my notes on this wine -- and last night's encounter again only corroborates my sentiments -- the 2010 Cantemerle is "modern" only in the sense that they have extracted the best out of the fruit. The wine is dense and concentrated but not over extracted. It is a stunner. 13%. In the mid to high $40s, it is priced very fairly. As I have done on numerous occasions on http://www.bordeauxwineenthusiasts.com, I again rate this an enthusiastic 97 points. Nothing over the top. The fruit and wood in perfect balance. It is big and enthusiastic and youthful and powerful, like a young Doberman bounding about, still a lot of rawness but the class and breed are obvious. A brilliant effort. Best Cantemerle ever.

[AlohaArtakaHoundsong]

I ordered a case of the 2014 when the Suckster declared it "same quality as the 2010." Will be interesting to see if there's any truth to it. I have a few bottles of the '10 back in Colorado.

[JimHow]

Nice. It really hits a sweet spot for me. Gee, the 2014s should be hitting the shelves pretty soon, shouldn't they?

[DavidG]

That note is worthy of a shelf-talker. Makes me want to run out and buy a case.

[JimHow]

I keep waiting to be disappointed every time I uncork a bottle but I never am.
It is one of those wines where the bouquet just bursts into the room as soon as the bottle is uncorked.

[tim]

My two cases are sitting in storage

[JimHow]

Very well done indeed Timmy.
No rush to drink this wine.

[jckba]

Jim, no about another year until the classified 2014's hit our shores.

[Comte Flaneur]

If anyone can be in London on June 28 I am organising a Cantermerle dinner with vintages from 1979 to 2010.

[Nicklasss]

I agree, brilliant!

[JimHow]

Nice!

[OrlandoRobert]

I’m still sitting on mine untouched! Time? So early….

[stefan]

Better than the dynamite 1989 Cantemerle?

[marcs]

In my continuing efforts to bring the stylings of John Gilman to BWE, here are two of his reviews of this wine -- one more positive and toward Jim's end (although not "first growth quality"), the other much more negative

Mar/Apr 2011, Issue #32, The 2010 Bordeaux Vintage: Very Ripe, Very Tannic and With Just A Few Great Successes 92+ points
(Château Cantemerle (Haut-Médoc)) Château Cantemerle has been on a tear since the turn of the century and is really making some of the most exciting wines on the entire Left Bank these days. The 2010, which weighs in at a most judicious 13.5 percent alcohol was raised in forty percent new oak in this vintage. The result is a stellar 2010, that jumps from the glass in a deep, pure and very classy mélange of cassis, sweet, dark berries, espresso, cigar ash, gravelly soil tones and a deft framing of cedary new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and gloriously pure and soil-driven for the vintage, with a superb core of fruit, great focus and balance and a very long, suave and ripely tannic finish. Château Cantemerle has a very, very sure hand at the rudder these days and is currently fashioning the greatest wines in the history of this venerable estate. A very, very exciting 2010, Cantemerle will need to be cellared a solid decade before broaching. (Drink between 2021-2060)

Jul/Aug 2014, Issue #52, Château Cantemerle The Southern Médoc’s Hidden Crown Jewell 87 points
(Château Cantemerle) The 2010 Cantemerle has evolved in the direction of the vintage in general over the last couple of years, which is not a positive direction, and it appears that I had overrated this wine a bit out of barrel back in the spring of 2011. It remains one of my favorite 2010s, but it is a bit headier than I anticipated and shows some of the vintage’s inherent coarseness on the palate from this intense drought year. The bouquet is still quite enjoyable and not particularly overripe in its blend of dark berries, tarry tones, cigar ash, dark soil and cedar. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and rock solid at the core, with a very primary personality, some bit of backend heat and a real coarseness to the tannins on the finish that is very un-Cantemerle-like, though very emblematic of the 2010 vintage. This is a strong 2010, but one of the weaker recent vintages at Cantemerle. (Drink between 2022-2040)

[marcs]

BTW one thing I like about Gilman is that he correctly identifies 2010 as a worse and more problematic vintage than 2009. The tendency to lump those vintages together has always been weird to me.