Revisiting 2010 Bordeaux

Join us this Saturday to revisit the 2010 Bordeaux vintage. We’ll be sampling several wines, from inexpensive, over-performing regional wines to renowned estates with top terroir. A few years have elapsed since the release of this vintage and we believe the wines are currently proving that 2010 was a truly stellar vintage for the region.

2010 in Bordeaux was the driest year in six full decades. The vines were parched for most of the summer, with almost no rainfall the entire month of August. Days were long and warm, nights were cool. The result was a crop of small, thick-skinned, ripe berries with tremendous concentration and freshness. By all accounts the 2010 Bordeaux vintage was a banner year for creating intense wines with refined tannins and ideal balance. The top Châteaux wines will develop for decades (and longer) in the cellar.

The merlot crop was hit by millerandage and coulure, two conditions leading to further reduced yields and even higher concentration. We’ll be featuring a few of the merlot-based wines of the Right-Bank. Like Château Montlandrie (SOLD OUT), an unsurprisingly ample Castillon wine from perfectionist proprietor, Denis Durantou, known for his celebrated Pomerol estate Château l’Eglise Clinet. Also, the easy drinking Château du Courlat special cuvée Jean-Baptiste from Lussac-Saint-Émilion (SOLD OUT). And for just a little over $20, the Fronsac from Château Villars (SOLD OUT) that drinks much bigger than it’s price tag.

Cabernet sauvignon vines on the Left-Bank bore higher yields. Nonetheless, the wines still have the hallmark 2010 concentration. From the Pessac-Léognan in Graves and a stunningly good sip right now is Le Petit Haut Lafitte (SOLD OUT). Designed during the blending of Smith Haut Lafitte, the wines of Le Petit Haut Lafitte are vinified and aged with the same care as the batches that will become the first wine of the Château. And for a perennial value we offer Château Tour St Bonnet (SOLD OUT), a rich Médoc Cru Bourgeois.

These are wines to warm the soul. Coincidentally, in Edgar Allan Poe’s 1846 story “A Cask of Amontillado,” as Montresor leads Fortunato deep into his damp vaults he pours wine from both Médoc and Graves. These regions have been known for producing quality wine for a long time. And there are far worse things to drink before being buried alive behind a brick wall, right?

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Posted on 2015.03.05 in France, Bordeaux, Saturday Sips Wines