The Great Claret Tasting at Southwold - The Turn of the Magnificent 2010s

Last week the great and the good of the wine trade (and yours truly) descended upon the picturesque seaside town of Southwold to re-examine the 2010 Bordeaux vintage. It resembled something of an MW convention – if anyone knows the collective noun for a group of Masters of Wine, send your answers on postcards… As ever, it was an honour indeed to taste in such illustrious company.

There was an enormous sense of anticipation; after all, this is the British wine trade’s favourite vintage, so expectations were exceptionally high. With this sort of reputation, it is unsurprising that the wines didn’t quite live up to their billing, but that is by no means a put down or for that matter a reason to quell our enthusiasm.

Tasting these wines from barrel was a revelation. Tasting them straight after bottling affirmed everything we thought and added to their repute. Tasting them again last spring and summer was mind-blowing. However, it appears that they have put themselves into hibernation since our last glimpse at this wonder-vintage. In general most wines are displaying their muscularity and structure at this time and appear to have concealed the grace, charm and prodigious sexy appeal on which they have built their reputation. The wines are still remarkable, if not quite as pleasurable to taste. But hey, we never said these were going to be forward, easy drinkers. To quote a member of the UK trade (and Nigel Tufnel), these have all been turned up to eleven (apologies to those not au fait with the philosophy of Spinal Tap!). These are wines of outrageous proportions. They will require long term cellaring, so if you are after immediate thrills, stick to the 2009s. If you are looking for something that will reward patience, stick some of these away…

At this early stage, the Firsts Growths and the big names from the Right Bank are perhaps the least closed. They still have flamboyance and provoke a sense of awe. Scores at Southwold are treated like state secrets, but, for those still reading, I’m allowed to reveal my own scores - WikiLeaks, eat your heart out… La Mission Haut Brion (20), Haut Brion (20), Latour (20), Petrus (19.5), Le Pin (18), Margaux (19), Cheval Blanc (19), Ausone (19), Lafleur (19), Lafite (18), Mouton (18.5). In truth, on another day, any of these wines could have taken top honours. These all display a sense of breed and exquisite exoticism that make them almost unique in my experience.

Other stand out performances came in the shape of Troplong Mondot (19), Angelus (18), Tertre Roteboeuf (18), VCC (18.5), Eglise Clinet (18), La Conseillante (18.5), Evangile (18), Leoville Poyferre (18), St Pierre (17.5), Montrose (18), Dame de Montrose (17), Pichon Baron (19), Fort de Latour (19), Domaine de Chevalier (17.5), Haut Bailly (17.5), Rieussec (18.5) and Coutet (18).

The Petit Chateaux and lesser cru Classes will in time offer extraordinary drinking and value. On the evidence of last week, don’t go near these for some time, ideally five, maybe ten years and give the best wines even longer.

The moment we’ve all been waiting for - Parker firms up on Bordeaux 2010

Parker’s out, and the 2010s have scored a stunning ten hundred point wines. Not bad at all. There may be a few eyebrows raised by the list of perfect wines. Pape Clement, La Violette and a St Emilion estate that we know quite well, Le Dome all feature alongside the regular 100 pointers like Latour, Haut Brion and Petrus. Please find the full list below:

2010	Latour	100
2010	Beausejour (Duffau Lagarosse)	100
2010	Cheval Blanc	100
2010	Le Pin	100
2010	Haut Brion	100
2010	Petrus	100
2010	La Violette	100
2010	Pontet-Canet	100
2010	Pape Clement	100
2010	Le Dome	100

There are also some 23 wines that score 98 or 99 out of 100. This confirms (if there were any doubt) what a magnificent vintage 2010 is.

2010	Montrose	99
2010	La Mondotte	99
2010	Gracia	99
2010	Le Gay	99
2010	Chateau Margaux	99
2010	Troplong-Mondot	99
2010	Vieux Chateau Certan	99
2010	Trotanoy	98
2010	Mouton-Rothschild	98+
2010	Haut Brion Blanc	98
2010	Lafite-Rothschild	98
2010	L'Evangile	98+
2010	Palmer	98+
2010	Haut Bailly	98
2010	Leoville-Poyferre	98+
2010	Angelus	98
2010	Larcis-Ducasse	98+
2010	Smith-Haut-Lafitte	98+
2010	Clos Fourtet	98
2010	La Mission Haut Brion	98+
2010	Ducru Beaucaillou	98+
2010	Ausone	98+
2010	Pavie	98+

Please click here to view available wines.

Bordeaux 2010 - Chateau Providence

Right at the heart of the plateau in Pomerol lies Providence, a beautifully restored, elegant Chateau surrounded by ten acres of vines. Neighbours include exalted names such as Hosanna and Certan de May. Although a relative newcomer, Providence has been heaped with praise by Robert Parker, James Suckling, Jancis Robinson et al and is quickly establishing itself as one of the leading properties in the commune.

For many years the estate was owned and managed by the Dupuy family, who tended the vines with devotion, but lacked a little technical savoir faire. JP Moueix, ever alert to a good opportunity, spotted the potential and purchased the estate in time for the 2005 vintage. Since then the cellar and tank rooms have been rebuilt, the chateau has been blasted until it gleams and the Moueix team have implemented several changes in the vineyards. The results are staggering. Now that the Moueix team are achieving the full potential from the vineyard, the wines are consistently amongst the best performers in this star studded commune. The cépage is typically 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, grown on the well suited clay and gravel soils of the plateau.

The 2010 is a sensational wine with wonderful tension and minerality. We found it even more stylish than the flamboyant 2009; a truly seductive, harmonious and aristocratic Pomerol. Bravo.

'Resurrected by Christian Moueix, Providence is made in a muscular, macho style with considerable minerality as well as dense plum, blackberry and black currant fruit, a formidable quantity of tannin and stunning depth and richness. The classic 2010 is similar in style and personality to that of the great Moueix estate of Chateau Trotanoy. Forget it for 5-6 years and drink it over the following 25-30 years. 92-94+/100`. - Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate #194.

Bordeaux 2010 UGC week

It’s very nearly that time of year again – this weekend we’ll be packing our cords and Sensodyne and heading south to taste the latest barrel samples from Bordeaux. There are a few changes to the program: sadly, our annual cricket match against the Bordeaux XI has been cancelled, and following a request/demand from our Chairman – we will be turning our schedule on its head. We will be taking on the Right Bank first, followed by the Medoc. Hopefully the rest of the trade will stick to the conventional slog through the Left Bank on Monday and Tuesday and leave us to taste Pomerol and St Emilion in relative tranquillity...

We will cover more than 200 samples and visiting almost 50 Chateaux over the five days. @Justerinis and @BordeauxBuyer will both be blogging from the Espace (but not whilst at the wheel), and when the tastings have finished, we’ll be spending our evenings blogging and facebooking. So, whatever your choice of social media, you’ll be able to keep up to date with our progress and discover the highs and lows of this fascinating vintage.

First impressions

Whilst in Bordeaux last week, Hew and I had the opportunity to revisit a few wines from 2008, 2009 and even got our first glimpse at a 2010. Starting with 2008, the wines of Chateau Latour displayed real breed. The Forts de Latour was somewhat closed, but there is enormous potential here. The Grand vin was by contrast extraordinarily expressive, open and utterly seductive. We also tasted with Denis Durantou at Chateau Eglise Clinet. His 2008 Eglise Clinet is very smart indeed. Flavours are precise, cool and classy; a very serious wine. Denis’ 2009 is off the scales in terms of richness and concentration. It has fleshed out in barrel and is now the most exotic, most decadent Eglise Clinet we have sampled. There is wave after wave of sumptuous velvety fruit – a truly exceptional wine. Denis then shocked us by asking if we would like to try his 2010. He only finished picking on the 2nd of October and there we were on the 19th tasting the final assemblage... Malos will not finish for some time, but the colour was an incredibly vivid purple and the wine was already displaying great depth of flavour and big structure.

Analytically, the 2010s are off the charts. Sugar levels are exceptionally high, whilst the lack of rain has resulted in tiny berries with thick skins, so we can expect good colours and lots of structure. We look forward to tasting more in April...