Robert Parker: Wine Advocate # 188. Apr 2010. Reviewer : Robert Parker. The best wine I have ever tasted from this estate, the oak seems to have been subdued, or maybe it is just that the fruit level is kicked up so high that the oak is not noticeable. That is certainly a characteristic of 2009. Dense purple in color, with hints of graphite, cigar box, creme de cassis, and subtle barbecue smoke, the wine is loaded, rich, opulent, medium to full-bodied, and a beautiful model of a wine that makes a few concessions to the modern style of Bordeaux but retains its Graves personality totally intact. It should drink well for 20-25 years. (Tasted two times.) Drink: 2010 - 2035.
Jancis Robinson: Published : 07-Apr-2010. Very dark. Too raisiny on the nose. Downright silly. So ripe that it has lost its core of freshness. What a shame!. When to drink : 2016 to 2024.
Wine Spectator: Updated: April 15, 2010. Very attractive blackberry, licorice and hints of toasted oak. Full-bodied, with soft and silky tannins and a milk chocolate and berry aftertaste. —J.S.
Decanter: Steven Spurrier, Decanter.com, 17.5 pts - "Black red, well-concentrated cassis fruit with good florality, fine earthy/leafy/fleshy palate, with good length, presence and grip, has both vigour and class. Drink 2016-28."
Chris Kissack, thewinedoctor.com, (March 2010), 17-18+/20pts - "A vibrant hue in the glass here, with a cherry red rim around a darker core. The nose has some good and fresh fruit, fine aromatics and a cleanly presented style. On the palate, solid fruit at first, a supple style overall though, but there is a lot of structure here. Slightly chewy tannins but a nice acid backbone to keep it fresh, which is a welcome characteristic in this vintage. Nicely done, but certainly a very ripe style of wine that will not appeal to all."
Chris Kissack, thewinedoctor.com, 17-18+/20 - "A vibrant hue in the glass here, with a cherry red rim around a darker core. The nose has some good and fresh fruit, fine aromatics and a cleanly presented style. On the palate, solid fruit at first, a supple style overall though, but there is a lot of structure here. Slightly chewy tannins but a nice acid backbone to keep it fresh, which is a welcome characteristic in this vintage. Nicely done, but certainly a very ripe style of wine that will not appeal to all."
Vinification: The harvest is manual, and the grapes transported to the chai in small plastic crates to minimise damage and subsequent oxidation, and the fruit undergoes selection on a sorting table before fermentation. The red grape varieties are destemmed, crushed and fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats at around 28-30°C, and after a three week maceration go into oak, up to 40% new, for as long as 20 months. It is then fined with egg whites before bottling.
