Progress of 2010 Bordeaux

Gilman used “The Very, Very Ripe, Very, Very, Very Tannic 2010 Vintage In Bordeaux-Miraculously, Some Great Wines Found Alive On the Battlefield” as his title when he reviewed the 2010 vintage. I therefore ignored the wines for around a decade before checking their development. A fair few corks have been pulled recently however.

I have been looking back at the notes I made on these wines over the last year or so. With that tannic load several of them had closed down for a while, but many middle range wines were starting to emerge. In order of decreasing pleasure this is the overview.

Senejac – a lovely balance with the tannins well integrated into the profile of the wine. Will still run for a while yet.
Caronne st Gemme – similarity’s the Senejac, at it’s best a pleasure to drink, with more body and promise, but not quite so ready.
Cissac – this had been fairly mute around 18 months ago, but from magnum in December was open and a pleasure to drink.
Batailley – surprisingly this was opening up, still a long way to go, but lots of fragrance and great with rare beef.
Fourcas Dupre – another that had been closed down tightly, but a bottle in December was opening up.
Angludet – drunk alongside the Batailley, still rather closed in comparison and really needed the food to make it a pleasurable experience.
Tour de By – hard and surly early in 2020, pushed to the back of the rack to give it at least a couple more years development.
Malescasse- really ambitious, it seems to have some promise, but right now it is next to the TdB and will not be disturbed again until 2022 at the earliest.

I would love to know what others have tried and how developed you thought they were.

There is a definite divide between left and right bank here. Plenty of decent left bank with alcohol levels mostly under 14%, while right bank estates struggled to attain ripeness, and keep the levels sub 15%. Troplong Mondot tipped the scales at 16.2%, and Canon, usually a model of restraint under John Kolassa was just under 15.5%.

I have had Pichon Lalande lately, it was superb, but ten years from maturity, and the Branaire and Beychevelle which needed a lot of time in the glass before they showed much sign of life. Again a project, but promising. Figeac was surprisingly balanced, and the most open.

I own a couple Pomerols, like VCC, but otherwise my 2010s are all left banks.

No RBs for me at all in 2010!

I’ve enjoyed a lot of CBs over the last few years, though some I have been slightly disappointed by recently.

The best recent one was Fonréaud, very fresh for the vintage.
Rollan de By was good, too.
Cambon La Pelouse - hopefully will improve but chunky and monolithic
Lestage-Simon - totally OTT for me but fine if you like high-octane stuff
La Cardonne - disappointing, in that the good creaminess did not have fresh enough fruit - 2010 is spicy by nature, but there are limits
Citran - less impressive than the 09 right now, but I expect it to settle down more
D’Arche - syrupy

I’ve been happily running through a case of 2010 La Chapelle du Calon- in a gorgeous spot right now. Red-fruited and spicy, still pretty fresh

Can’t confirm that and won’t for at least 10 more years to come.
Lot of vintages out there that will perform nicely meanwhile. So no real topic for me.
But that is no news. We knew before when we bought that 10 stuff. Lol.

Was it the 2009 or 2010 Cos (or both) that Gilman really trashed. Anyone taste that recently?

  1. And yes, every bit as nasty as the the first time I had it. 2010 is considerably better.
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I have not touched 2010 LBank bordeaux, needs another 5year min to be evaluated.

Before the world shut down for Covid I was going to a lot of vertical tastings, and for upper-end Bordeaux the 2009s were universally far more pleasurable than the 2010s. I think 2009 is going to be a vintage that never really shuts down (obviously the wines are still young and not showing all they have, but they are fun to drink). By contrast if you invest in 2010s you are in for a long grind and some misfires opening bottles when they are still closed. I’d almost guess it might be 2030 before they really open up, although I am far from claiming the ability to predict wine aging. I am with Gilman that 2010 might have been overestimated a bit because of the size bias in evaluating wines/vintages.

Both vintages seem to have their issues, some of the middling quality wines from both have been delicious. Whereas the 2010s that pushed too far are hard and tannic, the 2009s seemed to go for overripeness and are pruny and flabby. The 2009 Serilhan was the most recent example of this for me.

Had a Pontet-Canet a few months ago that I wish I waited another 5-10 years to open.

I’ve cracked a few cases of lesser 2009 left bank/pessac in 375ml format, and have loved them… de Fieuzal and Poujeaux in particular. Can’t keep my hands off them, both cases nearly gone.

I participated in a lot of the excellent 67 Pall Mall zoom tastings here in London last year where I tried quite a few 2010s in vertical line ups, all left banks iirc.

They generally showed very well as did the 2009s and the stylistic differences between the two vintages became most apparent. Generally speaking the 2009s and 2010s showed better than the 2005s.

Leoville Barton 2010 is a towering wine. Less open for business than the 2009. Big and austere with plenty of graphite in entry, allied to cassis and black pastille fruits. A wine with impeccable balance it has more freshness than the 2009 but really it is difficult to choose between them. The 2009 is a nose ahead right now; 96+ with potential for higher. Langoa is much more accessible - you can drink it now with pleasure - and outstanding too.

D’Issan 2010. My notes are brief but this is a great wine, and clearly the one that Emmanuel Cruse rated the most highly of the six he chose to show…serious, structured and perfectly balanced. I bought a case + 2 bottles. The 2010 was superior to the still excellent 2009 and comfortably better than the 2005. The other star in that line up was the 2019.

Haut-Bailly 2010. Compared to the demure 2012 tasted before the needle moves around the dial in every aspect with this wine because it is bigger in every way, particularly in its constitution, structure, power, richness, ripeness and concentration. But although it tips the scales at 14.3% abv it is not over the top in anyway and maintains impeccable balance and decorum. It is like a large muscular world-beating thoroughbred. The tannins are so refined which this makes this accessible and pleasurable now. Just so impressive. The 2009 was even better, and both way better than the gawky 2005.

Smith Haut-Lafitte 2010. An almost identical outcome: the 2010 ran the legendary 2009 very close. It was another towering 2010, big and structured, black fruited with graphite and an exhilarating tensile quality. The 2009 again is rounder, more opulent and more seductive than the 10, but the 09 is still rich, structured and very fine indeed; it unfurls beautifully; silky complex and very long. Daniel prefers the 2010, while Florence prefers the 2009.

Chateau Palmer 2010 - Thomas Douroux showed the 15, 10, 05, 00, 95, 90. My pecking order was 10/15/90/00/05/95. The 2010 is a profound wine and I think it will turn out comfortably better than the 1983 and 1989. I actually prefer the 1990 to the 1989 and this was a good one at 12% abv.

Giscours 2010 - cool minty nose, closed initially on the palate, Alexander Van Beek suggested decanting 24 hours in advance. Multi-layered, very classy, ‘virile’ (AVB), needs food and time. It continues to open and impress over the evening. However it was outpointed by the 2015 and 2016 as this estate continued to improve and replicate the glory days of the 1970s.

A good friend popped a Sociando Mallet 2010 last week and he reported that it already is showing superbly but obviously with plenty in hand.

The pattern is that 2010 is an outstanding vintage on the left bank, where it probably set a new benchmark, generally superior to the 2005s though broadly on a par with, but distinctly different from, the more opulent, rounder 2009s. Like the 2009s the 2010s do tend to be high in alcohol but they have no flab. They are like powerful thoroughbreds. I am very glad I went in big with this vintage - the only right bank I own is the sensational Conseillante, the other 19 are lefties.

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My response was specifically about the Cos ‘09. Surprised Jeff Leve hasn’t chipped in to tell me I am wrong champagne.gif