Double Vision: A Sneak Peek at Bordeaux 2010

The BI team are back from tasting in Bordeaux, and the question of quality has been answered - 2010 puts the capital C back into 'Classic Bordeaux'. If winemaking techniques were what they are in the modern era then 1996 would have been 2010. The M&ecaute;doc has quite simply never produced Cabernet Sauvignon this pure or seamless.

Top critics declare that 2010 and 2009 are twinned vintages, the like of which hasn't been seen since 1989 and 1990. See some snippets of reports so far:

James Suckling

James Suckling's team was one of the first to taste in Bordeaux; he has already released the majority of his tasting notes, with the complete set (including dry whites and sweet wines) to be released on 4th April. He writes:

'I think that 2009 and 2010 parallel 1989 and 1990 in many ways. I think that 2010 may be like 1989 and 2009 like 1990. The 1990 and 2009 are more upfront and voluptuous in style, while 2010 and 1989 are more structured and powerful.

'I found the 2010s very easy to taste�. I think that the 2010s have a lovely tannin structure and fresh acidity that make them very precise, focused and fresh to taste. My palate doesn't get tired; it just gets ready for another wine with each sip. It's really exciting.

'I keep thinking back to last year with the 2009s. The reds of 2009 were much more concentrated, fruiter, and slightly more alcoholic at this stage. They were fatiguing to taste. They were all about incredible ripe fruit. After about 30 wines, I was so, so tired�

'The 2010s I have tasted so far seem much more in check. They are impressive with their ripe and exuberant fruit but they have reserved tighter structure. Tasting these young 2010 reds is like looking at an abstract painting that has the perfect frame to highlight the form of the art.'

Suckling's First Scores:

Château Lafite Rothschild

Believe the hype. Lafite is perfect in 2010. The nose is amazing with sweet tobacco, dark chocolate and currants. It is amazing. It's like gazing into the blue sky in wonder after tasting this young wine. Full and powerful with amazing minerals, currants and bitter chocolate. It starts off slowly and then finishes with a bang. This is really layered and wonderful. It goes on and on. Stunning. 100 pts

Château Margaux

A phenomenal nose of roses, violets, and other flowers. Subtle yet rich raspberries and currants. It is 90 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a curious wine, almost ethereal. It is all in the front of the palate with ultra-fine tannins. It is full and very, very rich but it is forever balanced and in harmony What a wine. It is a pinpointed wine. So cerebral. It sends shivers down my spine. Incredible. 100 pts

Vieux-Château-Certan

This is off the charts. I am blown away. This is so concentrated yet perfect. With chocolate, blackberry, coffee. Full and amazing in density and balanced. The grapes were tiny and the production was tiny. I am speechless. This may match the legendary 1947 or 1945. 100 pts

Château Haut Brion Blanc

This is insane. I am speechless. It twists your palate with so much character and intensity. Better than the 2005 and I gave it 100 points. Full yet refined. Intense yet reserved. It's a wine of intense contrasts of tropical fruits and citrus. Bright and intense acidity, but it's all in balance. 100 pts

Click here to access the full report, plus scores and tasting notes on www.jamessuckling.com

Bill Blatch

Bill Blatch, author of the annual Bordeaux Report and currently director of the specialist Sauternes Company Bordeaux Gold, calls 2010 'an embarrassingly good vintage.'

'Back in November, many owners were already quietly confident that their 2010 was better than the already legendary 2009s but, coming hot on the heels of the hallowed '09s, they seemed embarrassed to say it too loudly. Today, half of Bordeaux is less timid in assessing '10 as great if not greater than '09, whilst the other half is more reserved in such a judgement. But there is one point of total agreement: it is totally different from its predecessor.'

Blatch provides a comprehensive overview of the weather conditions that created this superlative vintage. Here are some highlights:

'� the very high early winter rainfall [of 2009/2010] was to become the saving grace of the vintage, storing up in the depths of the soil a reserve of dampness that would become crucial in the dog days of summer.

'[Spring 2010 brought] a very unusually long period of frost so late in the winter, the likes of which we had only been seen before in March 1971. It similarly was responsible for the season's lateness which would never be caught up.

'It is a tribute to the cool nights of August that [during the harvest], unlike the previous year, these hot, dry conditions would make the wines as fresh as they would be rich.'

He concludes saying 'The word going round is that these will be long-lasting wines, making the 09s look like a softer more rapid version. The jury is still out on this.'

Click here to download Bill Blatch's full 2010 vintage report

Denis Dubordieu

Professor Dubordieu hails 2010 as a vintage of "great white wines and very great red wines". He goes on to break down the five classic "perfect" conditions that produce such a legendary vintage, and describes in detail how 2010 measures up against these criteria. They include:

'Early and fairly quick flowering in early June followed by
'Satisfactory fruit set in all grape varieties except Merlot (affected by coulure and millerandage).'
'A hot, sunny and dry month of July entailing a slowing down and stoppage of vine growth at the beginning of véraison (colour change).'
'Ideal ripening for all grape varieties throughout Bordeaux thanks to exceptionally dry weather in August and September, without excessive heat.'
'Ideal conditions from beginning to end of the harvest making it possible to pick each plot and each grape variety at optimum maturity.'

Click here to download Professor Dubordieu's full 2010 vintage report

Jeff Leve

Jeff Leve keeps his readers updated whilst travelling Bordeaux via regular blogs on The Wine Cellar Insider. Here are some of his first tasting notes:

Latour
This inky, black coloured wine is filled with truffle, cassis, chocolate fudge, leather, spice and Cuban cigar aromas. Combining delicacy, power, richness and elegance, which is always difficult to come by, the palate is washed over by waves of intense pure cassis and spicy black plums that fill your mouth and coat your palate. With ripe tannins, purity of fruit and freshness, this is so rich, concentrated and creamy, you can eat it with a spoon. Seamless, balanced and harmonious, the finish lasts for over one minute. The essence of Pauillac, this is pure liquid intensity. 98-100 pts

Chateau Haut Brion
Deep ruby with a purple rim that shines in the glass. The wine is filled with smoke, earth, hot stones, spice, blackberry, cassis and hints of liquorice. Full bodied and concentrated with multiple layers of spicy, fresh, rich dark fruit and cassis flavours that fill your palate, the wine builds in the mouth�. This incredible wine remains on your palate for close to 80 seconds! Balanced, harmonious and regal, this will be an amazing wine to experience at maturity. 98-100 pts

La Mission Haut Brion
Explodes with earth, minerals, cassis, burning embers, truffle and blackberry scents. This opens to a dense, concentrated, full bodied, tannic wine. This powerful Bordeaux wine is packed with mocha, cassis, blackberry and spice. Stylistically, this is a big, powerful, masculine La Mission Haut Brion that requires serious cellar time. 95-98 pts.

Pontet Canet
Inky black in colour, the wine stains the sides of the glass. Cassis, stone, forest floor and cedar aromas effortlessly pop from the glass. This Bordeaux wine fills your mouth with flavour. Packed and stacked with layers of ripe, fat, plump fruit, voluptuous in style, with freshness and ripe tannins, the blackberry, blue fruit, cassis, liquorice and spice filled finish grows in your mouth. 95-97 pts

Click here to access full articles, scores and tasting notes on www.thewinecellarinsider.com

Jancis Robinson

Jancis Robinson has published the following initial thoughts on the 2010 vintage:

'Tasting 2010 and 2009 side by side, you are struck by how sweet the 2009s look next to the 2010s, mainly, I suspect, because of their very different acid levels.'

'I did not find the tannins excessively tiring in most of these wines. I'm sure they are stuffed full of tannin, alcohol and, especially, acidity, but the intensity and quality, not to mention freshness, seemed to be something of a stimulant.'

Click here to access full articles, scores and tasting notes on www.jancisrobinson.com

Michael Schuster

Michael Schuster is tasting across the top chateaux in Bordeaux as we write; he weighs in on factors affecting the entire vintage, such as weather, harvest and style to come to his final conclusions:

'No question but that this is another outstanding Bordeaux Vintage. 2009 & 2010 will figure as one of the great claret 'pairs' such as 1989/1990. But if one often feels that the quality level is similar, the styles of the two years are very different: the 09's mostly softer, sweeter, more supple, with a more immediately seductive richness, the 10's more massively elegant, fresher, firmer, more tannic (sometimes severely so), more mineral alongside the very ripe fruit. Forced to choose, you would go for the 09's in some cases, 10 in others. No hard and fast rule there.'

Schuster's First Favourites:

Cru Bourgois:
Le Crock, de Pez, Ormes de Pez, du Boscq

St Estèphe:
Montrose

Pauillac:
Haut Batailley, Grand Puy Lacoste, Pichon Baron, Lynch Bages, Reserve de la Comtesse

St Julien:
The three Léovilles, Langoa Barton, Clos du Marquis, Talbot, Gloria, St Pierre.

Margaux:
Château Margaux (the only left bank First I have tasted) is a miracle of power and delicacy, with the silky refinement of texture and transparency of great burgundy; the Pavillon Rouge is not far behind. Palmer, Alter Ego, Angludet, Issan, Rauzan Ségla.

Graves:
Pape Clément, Domaine de Chevalier (red and white), Smith Haut Lafitte.

St Emilion:
Cheval Blanc and Petit Cheval, Clos Fourtet, Canon, Trottevieille.

Pomerol:
Petrus - utterly, effortlessly regal!

Upon his return, check out full tasting notes and scores on bordeauxindex.com but for now,
Click here to download Michael Schuster's full initial impressions of Bordeaux 2010.